Spitboy was an American

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is an ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, ha ...

band founded in the

San Francisco Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

in 1990. The all-female band aggressively criticized

patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

and

gender roles A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gende ...

but did not associate with the contemporaneous

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement ...

movement. They released several records and toured extensively and then disbanded in 1995. Members later played in the bands Instant Girl and

Aus Rotten Aus-Rotten was an American crust punk band formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Active from 1991 to 2001, its members practiced and promoted a philosophy of anarchist politics. The band included lead vocalist Dave Trenga, vocalist/guitarist Eric G ...

, while drummer Michelle Cruz Gonzales and vocalist Adrienne Droogas have been active as writers.

History

Spitboy was founded by drummer Michelle "Todd" Gonzales, vocalist Adrienne Droogas, bassist Paula Hibbs-Rines, and guitarist Karin Gembus. Paula left the band before the release of the ''Rasana'' 7-inch EP and was replaced by Dominique Davison. The band toured the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Their records were released on prominent punk rock labels

Lookout Records Lookout Records (stylized as Lookout! Records) was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California, and later in Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having released Operatio ...

, Allied Recordings, and Ebullition Records, including a split LP with the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

-based hardcore group

Los Crudos Los Crudos is an American hardcore punk band from Chicago, Illinois active from 1991 to 1998 and from 2006 onward. Comprising all Latino members, the band paved the way for later Spanish-speaking punk bands in the United States and helped to ...

. After the breakup of the group, Davison, Gonzales, and Gembus played together in the group Instant Girl, whose sound was less aggressive than that of Spitboy. Instant Girl released an LP on Allied Recordings. Droogas was briefly a member of the group

and then moved to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. She also wrote columns for the punk

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

s Heartattack and

Profane Existence Profane Existence is a Minneapolis-based anarcho-punk collective. Established in 1989, the collective publishes a nationally known zine (also called ''Profane Existence''), as well as releasing and distributing anarcho-punk, crust, and grindco ...

. Davison is now an architect and owner of Draw in Kansas City. Gonzales teaches English at

Las Positas College Las Positas College (LPC) is a public community college in Livermore, California. History Las Positas College began as an extension program of Chabot College in 1963, offering 24 classes and enrolling 810 students at three sites, including Liv ...

Livermore, California Livermore is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley, giving its name to the Livermore Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisc ...

, has published zines and memoirs on her time in Spitboy. In April 2021, it was announced that the band would be releasing their complete discography as a new compilation, ''Body of Work (1990-1995)'', released by

Don Giovanni Records Don Giovanni Records is an independent record label originally specializing in punk rock from the New Brunswick, New Jersey music scene but eventually working with a variety of artists from different genres. Its also operated out of Lansing, Mic ...

on June 25. The first single, "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", was released in May 2021.

Legacy

The band had a large impact and fans included fellow musicians

Alice Bag Alicia "Alice" Armendariz (born 7th November 1958), also known as Alice Bag, is an American punk rock singer and author. She is the lead vocalist and co-founder of Bags (Los Angeles band), the Bags, one of the earliest punk bands to form in Lo ...

and

Billie Joe Armstrong Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is an American musician and actor. He is best known for being the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is als ...

Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...

as well as members of

Operation Ivy Operation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests, coming after '' Tumbler-Snapper'' and before '' Upshot–Knothole''. The two explosions were staged in late 1952 at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Proving Ground in the Marshall I ...

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They were noted for their style-transc ...

Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

, and

Citizen Fish Citizen Fish are an English punk rock band that has been active since 1990 and shares members with Subhumans. Citizen Fish does not emphasize the raw political statements and nihilistic viewpoint of the former, instead focusing on issues of ...

Discography

*''The Threat Sexism Impressed b/w Ultimate Violations'' 7-inch (

51) - 1991 *''True Self Revealed'' LP (Ebullition Records) - 1993 *''Mi Cuerpo Es Mio'' 7-inch (Allied Recordings) - 1994 *''The Spitboy CD'' (Allied Recordings) - 1994 - Contains the first two singles and the LP *''Rasana'' 7-inch - (Ebullition Records) - 1995 *''Split LP with

'' (Ebullition Records) - 1995 *''Body of Work (1990-1995)'' (

) - 2021

References

External links

Spitboy fan page
on Myspace All-female punk bands Anarcho-punk groups Hardcore punk groups from California Don Giovanni Records artists {{US-punk-band-stub