| Lunachicks | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Landscape: | Yes |
| Origin: | New York City, United States |
| Years Active: | 1987–2000, 2002, 2004, 2019–present |
| Label: | Blast First, Go Kart Records |
| Associated Acts: | Theo & the Skyscrapers, Bantam, Gina Volpe |
| Current Members: |
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| Past Members: |
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Lunachicks are an American punk rock band from New York City. The band formed in 1987 and had been on hiatus since 2001, with the band reuniting in 2019.[1] The band cited influences including the Ramones, Kiss, and the MC5.
Theo Kogan, Gina Volpe, and Sydney "Squid" Silver were students at New York City's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts when they decided to form a band. Sindi Benezra, an acquaintance of Silver, was asked to join shortly after. They rehearsed and wrote material in Gina's bedroom for about a year. Their first composition, the lengthy "Theme Song", was about killing Kogan's and Silver's English teacher. The band played their first show in 1988 with Theo's then-boyfriend Mike on the drums.
Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth were amongst the audience for one of their early performances. Gordon and Moore were impressed with the band and sent a demo tape to Paul Smith in England, which landed them a deal on Smith's label Blast First.[2] With drummer Becky Wreck (Susan Rebecca Lloyd) on board they released a self-titled four-song EP in 1989, and the album Babysitters on Acid,[2] both produced by Wharton Tiers. The record was only available in Europe until it was re-released on Go-Kart Records in 2001.[3] The band later expressed their strong dislike for the album's production, and the fact that they did not earn any money from Blast First.[4] The band went on to tour with the Dictators in 1991.
1992 saw the release of their second album, Binge & Purge.[5] Around this time drummer Becky Wreck gained cult popularity for a TV appearance on Howard Stern's Lesbian Dating Game. She left the band some time later and was briefly replaced by Beastie Boys and Luscious Jackson drummer Kate Schellenbach, before Chip English joined. During their first visit to Japan, a six-song EP entitled Sushi A La Mode, featuring a cover of Boston's "More Than a Feeling", was recorded and released in Japan in the fall of 1993.
Lunachicks were signed to New York-based label Go Kart Records, on which they released 1995's Jerk of All Trades.[6] The follow-up, 1997's Pretty Ugly, produced by Ryan Greene and Fat Mike of NOFX, features their most well-known song "Don't Want You", which was promoted with a video. Guitarist Sindi then left the band, after which the band stayed a four-piece. They released their first live album Drop Dead Live in 1998, and then their final album to date, Luxury Problem. By this time, the group had a busy touring schedule, headlining clubs in the United States, Europe, the U.K., and Japan, while opening for the likes of the Ramones, the Buzzcocks, No Doubt, the Go-Go's, Rancid, and NOFX, as well as appearing on the Vans Warped Tour.[7]
Lunachicks joined the Warped Tour in 1999, one of only three female acts along with the Donnas and Bif Naked, and again in 2000. Chip English left the band in the fall of 1999 and was replaced by then 18-year-old Helen Destroy (now known as Gus Morgan),[8] who stayed with the band until it went on hiatus in the summer of 2001. The band never officially disbanded, but had been inactive since then, with the exception of two reunion shows in 2002 and 2004.[7]
Whilst being the front runner for the Lunachicks, Theo Kogan also worked on the side as a model, per request by her friends in the fashion industry.[9] She modeled for Calvin Klein, which ended up being a controversial campaign said to promote "drug use", and Burberry. In an interview with Jon Stewart, Kogan noted that music would always come before modeling and that modeling would always be a side job.[9]
In 2020, the band announced on their official website that they are working on a book, Fallopian Rhapsody, which was published in 2021 by Hachette Books.[10]
In 2021, the band played two shows at Punk Rock Bowling[11] in Las Vegas. It was their first live performances in 17 years.
On September 1, 2021, Hachette Books published the Lunachicks' memoir, Fallopian Rhapsody: The Story of the Lunachicks. It was written with co-author Jeanne Fury.
The book received praise from critics and peers:[12]
“Their name alone is a stroke of genius, and bless them for keeping the faith in Rock alive. Now Fallopian Rhapsody confirms the myth, and after I read the book, I lost weight, my hair got thicker, my nails grew strong enough to climb trees, and my sex life soared to unbelievable heights.”―Debbie Harry of Blondie
“This book contains the realest, funniest, most heart-wrenching writing about being in a band I've ever read. The first Lunachicks record, Babysitters on Acid, gave me permission to be my full self as a singer (though NO ONE can touch Theo Kogan’s voice EVER), and now this book has confirmed what I already knew. The Lunachicks, as people, are as hilarious, complicated, and undeniable as their songs.”―Kathleen Hanna of The Julie Ruin, Le Tigre, and Bikini Kill
“As a rebellious New York City teenager deeply involved in the underground music scene, I cannot stress the magnitude and impact the Lunachicks had on not just me, not just female musicians, but the New York City scene as a whole. They were torch bearers for all of us, giving us permission and inspiration to be as wild as we could possibly imagine and just go for it. It was an absolute side-splitting and heartbreaking joy to read all these personal stories and know what was really going on behind all that black eyeliner. Thanks for kicking that door open so the rest of us could run in.”―Jessica Pimentel of Orange Is the New Black
“Was anyone ever as powerful as teen girls in the 1990s NYC? This sexy, funny, totally bonkers band memoir took me right back to that dangerous DIY era in all its filth and freedom. Fallopian Rhapsody is a valuable addition to the literary canons of obnoxious punk rock, TV-raised Generation X, and messy, creative female friendships that last a lifetime.”―Ada Calhoun, author of St. Marks Is Dead and Why We Can’t Sleep
“For me, the Lunachicks embodied the lower east side of the ’90s. Gritty, glammy, over-the-top punk rock and rollers, this was a band that you had to see to believe. Out of the thousands of concerts I’ve seen, the first time I saw the Lunachicks stands out to me as the most ‘What the fuck did I just witness?’ moment of my concert-going life. Fallopian Rhapsody is a must-read for fans of the CBGB-era rock scene that was New York City and brings to life the unique swagger and controlled (or sometimes not so controlled) chaos that was the Lunachicks. Both poignant and hilarious, it’s a book that when finished makes you ponder ‘What the fuck did I just read?’”―Chris Santos, cofounder of Beauty & Essex and judge on Chopped
“Fallopian Rhapsody is a whirlwind ride through untold punk rock history on the wheels of a cross-country tour with the Lunachicks, from illuminated stories on the catastrophic dynamics between bandmates as sisters to the necessary details on the drugs and assholes who attempted to break them. Often told in first person, Fallopian Rhapsody is a tell-all tale on existing fabulously, outside of every potential box. It’s a time capsule that brings light to the sound, action, filth, decadence, and nasty-woman rapture of seminal NYC punks, the Lunachicks.”―Cristy Road Carrera of Next World Tarot, Spit and Passion, Choked Up, and The Homewreckers
"If I was a mother, I would hand this book to my kid and say LEARN! So it’s probably good that I’m not a mother. However I AM a PERSON and I WISH I’d had this book to read when I was a kid to learn how to be a fierce FRIEND, and what really goes into being a courageous, unapologetic ARTIST. Thanks for being the blueprint, Lunachicks!!!"―Justin Vivian Bond
Kirkus Reviews called the book "Trashy rock ’n’ roll fun—a Thunderbird alternative to typical rock-memoir Chardonnay."[13] New Noise said the book is "a frank, deeply honest telling of the Lunachicks’ history, warts and all."[14] The band did numerous interviews after the release of the book, including:
In 2023, Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks, a documentary by director Ilya Chaiken, premiered at DOC NYC festival. The movie was a runner up for the Audience Award and one of the top-streamed films of the 2023 festival. It featured interviews with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie, Noodles and Dexter Holland of the Offspring, Donita Sparks and Jennifer Finch of L7, Kate Schellenbach of Luscious Jackson, Miss Guy of the Toilet Boys, rock journalist Jeanne Fury, and others. Submarine acquired worldwide distribution rights. Pretty Ugly was executive produced by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, who directed and produced the Academy Award-nominated RBG and Amazon’s Peabody Award-winning film My Name Is Pauli Murray; and Concord Originals’ Sophia Dilley, Charles Hopkins and Bob Valentine; with Concord Originals’ Wesley Adams and Quíle Gomez serving as associate producers.
Besides being active in music, the band also had a fair share of movie appearances. The first was in a low-budget splatter movie entitled Blue Vengeance (shot in 1989, but not released until 1992). The band also can be seen in the 1990s riot-grrrl documentary, Not Bad For A Girl,[20] as well as Rockstar (produced in 1996, not released commercially until 2004), and High Times' Potluck (2002), both of which featured lead singer Kogan in lead roles.[21] The band also appeared in Terror Firmer, and contributed the song "Say What You Mean" to its soundtrack. Kogan and Silver starred in the movie Hair Burners.
The band has also been involved with movies and music videos in other ways, such as being on soundtracks. In 1997 Kogan danced in the Offspring's video for "I Choose". The movie Boys Don't Cry has their music video for "Don't Want You" playing in the background of a scene. The Olsen twins' movie Getting There has their song "Say What You Mean" on the soundtrack. C.J. Ramone of the Ramones has been seen wearing a Lunachicks shirt several times, most notably in the music video for "Poison Heart".
The Lunachicks reunited for a 20-minute set at CBGB's on April 6, 2002, with Benezra on guitar and English on drums.[22] Another reunion took place at the March for Women's Lives Benefit in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2004, as a four-piece with English on drums. In November 2019, the Lunachicks announced their first reunion in 15 years which they were set to perform two nights at Webster Hall in April 2020. Both shows are sold out, however they were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were rescheduled for November 26, 2021, and November 27, 2021.[23]
On September 26, 2021, the band played the main stage of the Punk Rock Bowling festival in Las Vegas, opening for Devo.[11] They also played a sold-out afterparty on Friday, September 24.[24] These shows marked the Lunachicks' first live performances in 17 years.