Heavens To Betsy

 Heavens To Betsy were a two-piece punk band from Olympia, Washington that were active between 1991 and 1994. They were part of the emerging riot grrrl scene including Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and Excuse 17, with albums released by both K Records and Kill Rock Stars. While certainly a remarkable band in their own right, they are partially remembered as being one half of the prototype for Sleater-Kinney, which guitarist/vocalist Corin Tucker of Heavens To Betsy formed with Carrie Brownstein, the guitarist/vocalist of Excuse 17 as a side-project before Sleater-Kinney became their main focus (and a band that they're still active as today). But to get back to this band, Heavens To Betsy packed raw power into sparse instrumentation, using only Tracy Sawyer's pounding drums, Tucker's often down-tuned guitar, and her soaring, fierce vocal delivery with lyrics that touch on feminism and patriarchal injustice. It's beautifully unrefined passionate catharsis that paved the way for the more technically locked-in Sleater-Kinney while still holding its own as an integral band from their respective scene. If you've never heard this band do yourself a favour and listen to Calculated, and maybe one day I'll do a full Sleater-Kinney history and album-by-album retrospective, if that's something any one would be interested in.

Demo (1992)

1. Good Food

2. Factory

3. Seek And Hide

4. Stay Dead

5. My Red Self

6. Ain't Never Goin' Back

7. Baby's Gone

8. My Secret

Heavens To Betsy/Bratmobile (1992)

1. Heavens To Betsy - My Secret

2. Bratmobile - Cool Schmool

These Monsters Are Real (1993)

1. Me & Her

2. Monsters

3. Playground

4. Firefly

Calculated (1994)

1. Nothing Can Stop Me

2. Decide

3. Stay Away

4. Calculated

5. Waitress Hell

6. Intermission 24/7

7. axemen

8. Donating My Body To Science

9. Terrorist

10. Complicated

11. White Girl

12. Paralyzed 

Direction (1995)

1. Direction

2. Get Out Of My Head

3. The Ones

4. Driving Song

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