Music, zines, and DIY. Queercore is one of my favorite things. Queercore is queer punk rock but so much more. I mentioned it in my article“Gay/Lesbian verse Queer: What’s the difference?” If you’ll take a trip over to QZAP and find issues of J.D.’s by Bruce LaBruce and G.B. Jones, you can trance by to when the term queercore was coined. To quote Wikipedia that “These zines, and the movement, are characterised by an alternative to the self-imposed ghettoization of orthodox gay men and lesbians; sexual and gender diversity in opposition to the segregation practiced by the mainstream gay community; a dissatisfaction with a consumerist culture, proposing a DIY ethos in its place in order to create a culture of its own; and opposition to oppressive religious tenets and political repression.” That’s what queercore is about.
My favorite queercore band is Team Dresch. Donna Dresch, the founder of the band, was pretty involved in the queercore scene in the 1980’s and 1990’s. She had her own zine called Chainsaw which eventually became a record label. Team Dresch consists of four gold-star dykes and they rock so hard. They released two albums, My Personal Best and Captain, My Captain. Captain, My Captain was rank number three on Larry-Bob’s Queer Album Top 26 List.
My second favorite queercore band is Fagatron. I don’t know much about the band but with they are awesome. I found out about Fagatron from Stacy K who runs a queercore and riot grrrl blog which if this article has sparked any interest in you – you should check out. My favorite song by Fagatron is “I am Not” with the lyrics, “I am not just like you!” They also do a pretty wonderfully horrible cover of Madonna’s “Just Like a Prayer” that’s not to be missed.
If you are into hardcore punk – maybe Tribe 8 or Limp Wrist would be more your style. If you like experimental, try Fifth Column or The Need which is like nothing else I ever heard before. There is queercore for all music tastes.
Lots of older queercore is pretty obscure and hard to come by. Lucky for you, some of the real hard to get stuff has been brought together for a sampling on an awesome radio show by Queer Music Heritage. It has an interview with Jon Ginoli of Pansy Division and an interview with G.B. Jones. I haven’t listened to all of it yet – there’s a lot like eight hours worth! But from what I have heard, it’s pretty amazing.
Hopefully this article has inspired you to go out and start your own zine or queercore or at least introduced you to another genre of queer culture.
My favorite queercore band is Team Dresch. Donna Dresch, the founder of the band, was pretty involved in the queercore scene in the 1980’s and 1990’s. She had her own zine called Chainsaw which eventually became a record label. Team Dresch consists of four gold-star dykes and they rock so hard. They released two albums, My Personal Best and Captain, My Captain. Captain, My Captain was rank number three on Larry-Bob’s Queer Album Top 26 List.
My second favorite queercore band is Fagatron. I don’t know much about the band but with they are awesome. I found out about Fagatron from Stacy K who runs a queercore and riot grrrl blog which if this article has sparked any interest in you – you should check out. My favorite song by Fagatron is “I am Not” with the lyrics, “I am not just like you!” They also do a pretty wonderfully horrible cover of Madonna’s “Just Like a Prayer” that’s not to be missed.
If you are into hardcore punk – maybe Tribe 8 or Limp Wrist would be more your style. If you like experimental, try Fifth Column or The Need which is like nothing else I ever heard before. There is queercore for all music tastes.
Lots of older queercore is pretty obscure and hard to come by. Lucky for you, some of the real hard to get stuff has been brought together for a sampling on an awesome radio show by Queer Music Heritage. It has an interview with Jon Ginoli of Pansy Division and an interview with G.B. Jones. I haven’t listened to all of it yet – there’s a lot like eight hours worth! But from what I have heard, it’s pretty amazing.
Hopefully this article has inspired you to go out and start your own zine or queercore or at least introduced you to another genre of queer culture.
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