Spoken word artist Slim Moon founded Olympia, Washington-based Kill Rock Stars back in 1991 as a haven for spoken word artists. But then the Pacific Northwest's unique feminist punk rock scene exploded, and with it, Kill Rock Stars, which put out albums by every riot grrl band worth its salt. As KRS has grown up, it has continuously sought to diversify its roster. Today, it is not only a top label for independent spoken word and feminist punk, but a home for numerous brilliant experimental, garage, pop, and acoustic artists.
Bikini Kill
Can you stand the unholy onslaught mounted by the feistiest ladies in rock? These queens of the early '90s Riot Grrrl movement led a Girl Style Revolution in popular music and culture with their fiercely polemical feminist punk.
Jim Carroll
Over the last three decades, Jim Carroll has been a fixture in American literature, music, and culture, and the passing of time has rendered the post-Beat, post-punk icon no less passionate and his work no less powerful.
Comet Gain
British garage-psyche combo Comet Gain's post riot grrrl/riot guy approach to pop features one song after another soaked in reverb, organs, and tambourines, while offering a steady stream of notable guest appearances.
With expert storytelling, theatrical characters and catchy, tender melodies, Portland, OR-based outfit The Decemberists craft touching, often melancholic songs that conjure atmospheres of period pieces, long lost loves and antique books.
Deerhoof
San Francisco's Deerhoof takes the wide-eyed innocence of the conventional pop song and mutates it, perverts it, undermines it, performs dangerous experiments on it, ending up with messy gems marked by screeching vocals, dissonant guitars, squirting electronics, and some surprisingly good tunes.
Free Kitten
Supergroup? Yeah, you could say that. Featuring members of Sonic Youth, the Boredoms, Pussy Galore, and Pavement, this collaborative venture leans toward the arty, noisy experimentalism of the previous two outfits, while occasionally incorporating touches of the raunchiness and irony that distinguish the latter two.
Har Mar Superstar
Har Mar Superstar is on this planet for one reason -- to make you "Sweat" like Keith himself. Harold Tillman brings R&B slow jams to the hip kids with help from his beat-constructing comrades in arms The Busy Signals.
Mecca Normal
Mecca Normal has proven over their many years and albums that minimalism can be a powerful thing. If you haven never listened to one of the group's many interesting releases, imagine a meandering Patti Smith coupled with Beat Happening.
Sport Murphy
Sport Murphy remembers his nursery rhymes and fairytales, and they've left an indelible mark on the music he makes. His eccentric, eclectic, sometimes esoteric cabaret pop is dense with inspired lyricism and kooky-beautiful instrumentation.
Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney's celebrated trio of rock and roll cult heroes/goddesses conducts cathartic punk exorcisms (gender hierarchy, political inequality, consumerism) and baptisms (female empowerment, humanity, humor) with unflagging exuberance and passion.
Unwound
Unwound is one of indie rock's most important bands ever. Taking up where SST-era Sonic Youth left off, Unwound maintains a punk rock stance in conquering and controlling noise rock.
