I couldn’t link Part 1 without linking Part 2.  This video is NSFW (Not Safe For Work).  Or you can be like me and watch the video at work with co-workers glancing over at your screen because they wished they were watching the documentary too.  This half of the documentary is just as awesome as the first half.  Watching this video is one of the prerequisites to earn your gay decoder ring so it’s pretty much mandatory.

This documentary is NSFW (Not Safe For Work).  This is my favorite documentary.  It’s about everything that made and makes the queercore scene great.  I should watch it more often for when I feel isolated – you realize you’re not alone.  The documentary is inspirational to me and makes me want to go out and start a band.  I hope the documentary inspires you too.  If you feel inspired, you know it’s never too late to pick up an instrument and start making noise.  If you don’t know where to start to make music but want to I’ll try to help as I plan to do some videos about music making in the near future.  Stay tuned.

It’s been awhile since I gave Team Dresch a listen.  Their first album Personal Best is named after a movie about athletes and love affairs when one involving a lesbian relationship.  I haven’t seen the movie.  I did learn of the book Rubyfruit Jungle from a Team Dresch song off their second album Captain My Captain.  It was a good book.  Anyways, Team Dresch took their name from Donna Dresch who ran the record label Chainsaw Records.  The label began its life as a zine by Donna.  She also contributed to other zines and has been involved in the queercore scene since the 1980’s.  Team Dresch also performed in the queercore documentary “She’s Real, Worse Than Queer” which is amazing.  The sound of the band is more rock with a stream of consciousness element to the dynamic of the songs and lyrics.  The music is great and so are the lyrics.  I definitely recommend giving this band a listen to.  If you dig Personal Best by Team Dresch, also check out their second album Captain My Captain.

Limp Wrist is an amazing queercore band.  All their songs are hardcore punk.  They are also very gay.  I discovered the band the Re-sisters (such a cool name, right?) from their song The Ode.  There are so many references to queer punks in that song that it’s worth checking out.  I highly recommend having a focus listening session for all of their music.  What I mean by that is play the music while reading the lyrics to follow along.  If you read the lyrics separate from the music, you miss out on the full experience to fully immerse yourself in the songs.   Sometimes it’s hard for the most experienced punks to make out lyrics from the raging screams which are definitely warranted as there is plenty of injustices to be upset about in this world but a huge part of a punk song is the lyrics too.  You miss out on half the song if you don’t know what is being sung about.   If hardcore punk isn’t your thing, definitely try to give Limp Wrist a chance as you might discover you love hardcore boys too.  Limp Wrist earns six stars out of five because they are just that awesome.

The Need was a queercore band that was active in the mid 1990’s to early 2000’s from Olympia, Washington. In 2010, they reformed for a benefit show plus had a tour in 2013. I am unsure of the current active status of the band. The Need doesn’t sound like anything else out there. It’s new wave but rock with a big hint of being experimental. It’s a cacophony of noise and it is awesome. I think The Need was well before their time. The Need with singer Nomy Lamm co-wrote the soundtrack to the rock opera The Transfused. I managed to get my hands on the soundtrack a few years ago and it was one of the coolest soundtracks I ever heard. One of their albums that was released by Kill Rock Stars is available for purchase at https://needisdead.bandcamp.com/.

CWA which stands for Cunts With Attitude was a queercore band from the early 1990’s.  The band only recorded a couple of songs.  This song, Only Straight Girls Wear Dresses, is on the compilation Stars Kill Rock which was released in 1993 by the label Kill Rock Stars.  The whole compilation is pretty great which is available from Kill Rock Stars’ bandcamp at: https://killrockstars.bandcamp.com/album/stars-kill-rock.  Anyways, this song is about femme visibility which is still an issue today.  It’s a great song that I can’t help but grin as I listen to it.

Originally released in 1994, the album Drag King by Sister George is a queercore classic.  It is available to stream and to download on Sister George’s bandcamp at https://sistergeorge.bandcamp.com/.  It’s one of my favorite queercore album.   The snark and edge in Ellyott’s voice from the first track to the last is relentless.  The music element is great.  The band plays tight.  The lyrics are clever. Everything about the album is perfect.   Despite being released over 20 years ago, the album is as relevant as ever.  You seriously need to go listen to it now.