Transister

The 90s did not lack for female-lead alternative bands. Garbage, Curve, Poe, Elastica, The Breeders and Veruca Salt come to mind with very little effort expended. In 1997-98, a vigilant music buyer might have noticed a CD by another such band, Transister, featured at the listening stations of Best Buy and other such stores.

Formed in late 1995 by three music industry veterans, Transister has much of what makes these bands appealing: a female vocalist as the foil to harder-edged music. Keely Hawkes is talented at using the voice she has, and Eric Pressly's writing is a cut above average with sly, clever lyrics. On the whole, the band's one eponymous album (released in 1997) is very consistent but never boring. Each song has a very distinct and complex sound.

"Falling Off the World" from the album Transister (1997):


Interscope/Virgin records took interest and released the album Transister after several self-produced tracks gained attention on KCRW in Santa Monica. Despite this initial popularity and inclusion on several movie soundtracks, Transister never hit it big. The group produced one official music video. While the song is a personal favorite, it does not do justice to the range of sounds that is presented on the album:



Transister is currently out of print and not being offered in digital form, but is available new used through various channels. While the members of the band have gone on to pursue other projects, Transister's MySpace has been updated in the recent past and includes some remixes and promises of rare tracks.

Darling Violetta

If you're a fan of Angel or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you've heard Darling Violetta. During the third season of Buffy, they were one of the relative unknown bands to take the stage at The Bronze (the show's popular hangout/nightclub). Not only were two tracks featured ("Cure" and "Blue Sun"), but the band itself made an appearance. The next year, Darling Violetta was invited to submit a demo for the spinoff series, Angel. Despite two EPs and inclusion in other soundtracks, the under-a-minute main title became their most famous composition. Ironically, written in 1999, the piece of music wasn't available in any form other than on television until a show soundtrack was released in 2005. Darling Violetta's last album, Parlour, was released in 2003.

Here's "Spoiled & Rotton" off The Kill You EP (2000):


The Angel theme and the albums previous to Parlour are marked by lush orchestrations, including the use of a cello, in counterpoint to Cami Elen's stripped-down vocals. The latter album, while containing artistic "interludes", tends more toward basic pop, but is still listenable. The band is currently working on new music.

Darling Violetta's entire catalog is available for purchase through Opaline Records, except for the Angel theme. It is only available in an extended recording on the album Angel: Live Fast, Die Never.

Tapping the Vein

During the early to mid-90s, a confluence of musical factors produced a crop of alternative bands headed by female vocalists. Garbage might be considered the first and most notable, but the likes of Evanescence (and a slew of lesser known bands) predate Garbage's initial success. One of those "other" bands is Tapping the Vein.

Formed in 1995, the band's basis is drummer and programmer Eric Fisher and vocalist Heather Thompson. Though the name (and to some degree the lyrics) suggest "goth," Tapping the Veins sound is separate from the punk influences of early gothic rock and shuns the genre's later darkwave influences by keeping the musical elements to a minimum. Thompson's vocals are not unlike Trent Reznor's of Nine Inch Nails: she knows when the song needs to be delicate and when it needs a banshee.



Tapping the Vein's first album The Damage was released in 2002 on Nuclear Blast Records. It is currently available in CD form via Amazon.com and other merchants. According to the band's MySpace page, their second album Another Day Down is scheduled for release on March 10, 2009 through Dancing Ferret Discs and IsoTank Music and will be available through other online retailers.

Of particular personal note, the VOTS 2009 Spring League team Plastic Falls was named for the song "Sugar Falls":

Drain STH

The female band Drain STH (known as simply Drain in their native Sweden) is described by WikiPedia as melodic metal. While apt, it doesn't quite encompass the grunge quality of of Drain STH's musical style. The best comparison is to Alice in Chains, the female vocals of Maria Sjöholm are only slightly smoother and less aggressive than Layne Staley's.

While I try to keep all my clips and videos sanctioned and official, it is difficult to find much embeddable Drain STH on the web. The following is a fan submitted audio-only of "Black," off of their second album Freaks of Nature album:


Currently, Drain STH's albums are out of print and available used through vendors like Amazon.com. The band does maintain a MySpace with several tracks available for streaming. Other tracks, especially those from their first album Horror Wrestling can be found via a YouTube search.

Brother Sun Sister Moon

Not to be confused with the Franco Zeffirelli film or the Donovan album, Brother Sun Sister Moon is the trip-hop collaboration between Paul Robb of Information Society and vocalist Barbara Cohen. For anyone familiar with Cohen's more acoustic work with Little Lizard or her country-sounding solo album, the pair do not seem to be a logical match. For someone who first encountered Cohen's powerful voice in the context of Brother Sun Sister Moon's lush orchestrations, it's hard to understand why there have only been two albums by the duo.

Their first album The Great Game was released in 1997 to local buzz in Minneapolis and other parts of the heartland. It caught the attention of Virgin Records who signed them to produce a second album. Unfortunately, that album, Luminous, was never released by Virgin, the group was dropped, and eventually Luminous was released by Bleep Records in 2002.



Both albums were re-released by Robb's HAKATAK imprint in 2007. They are available for download only through Amazon.com (here and here) as well as through other online music outlets.

Source: Time to play b-sides