Style: hard rock
Label: Black Jack/Ironworks
Year: 1987
Home: California
Members: Mary Go Godges ~ bass
Pam Reene Galloway ~ drums
Jenny Thornburg ~ guitars
Debra Lynn Billingsley ~ vocals
It's an undeniable fact that there is & was a lack of female only bands in the hard rock/metal world. It's no reflection on women musicians & their ability to rock out or play instruments ... however much the absence might speak such. It's also an undeniable fact that hard rock is essentially masculine in his raw sexual energy. But, surprise surprise, women can 'cock rock' as much as any guy & often do with just as much excitement & gusto. They don't have to always look pretty or innocent or on the other end sluttish to play the rock game. There's many women in music that have gained acclaim, both with & without the added bonus of being pretty to look at or taking advantage of their God gifted curves, but as for all girl bands they are few & little known on the mainstream. Girlschool & the Runaways might be two of the bigger ones, but if it wasn't for a series of movies the later would have probably fallen off the radar like the former even given the continued performance of some of its alumni. The next runner-up in general popularity, let alone being around in the 70's, would probably be the Slits ... but they were actually three fourths female often leaving their token male out of photoshoots. While many girl groups tended to be on the more commercial pop end of things, like the Bangles or Go-Go's, or are more contemporary like the riot grrl movement, which isn't hard rock, or of another fringe genre of rock, such as the retro garage rockers the Brood, or just aren't generally as well known as their male peers. It's actually a shame. With so few female groups well known it makes it appear that there aren't any & girls can't rock out when there is a plethora of them, past & present. DC is one of a handful of all girl rock bands from the 1980's that could have been a contributor to changing the reputation of girl rockers everywhere had they gained some popularity. Black Sabbath moody riffs with a hard edge reminiscent of W.A.S.P., Judas Priest & Slayer more so than the L.A. glam metal scene then in vogue. On one hand there's nothing feminine about DC, whether in the vocals which don't reach any highs particular to the female voice with many 80's vocalists reach far greater heights with male falsetto or in the music itself which is straight ahead driving hard rock & cliched meandering lyrics to match. But, on the other hand that a group of women can rock on par with men, even identical to men, is what makes DC interesting. They're breaking the stereotype by not being different ... in a strange twist on things. Though, original or not, this little rarity will be a delight to hear if for no other reason than it's a throwback to pre-Guns N' Roses hard rock untouched by glam/hair metal. Around since 1984 DC released only this EP outside of a 1989 one-track demo of "Sex Thing". They broke up soon after with current whereabouts unknown for any of the members & their name living on amongst collector's of 80's rock & bootleggers.
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