Autoclave was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band, based in

Washington, D.C ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. Their releases were on local label

Dischord Records Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release ''Minor Disturbance'' by their band The Teen Idle ...

. Formed in the summer of 1990, the group consisted of vocalist and bassist

Christina Billotte Christina Billotte is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, known for her involvement in the punk music scene in Washington DC, as a performer and organizer. She is included in Venus Zine's list ''The Greatest Female Guitarists of All T ...

, lead guitarist

Mary Timony Mary Bozana Timony (born October 17, 1970) is an American independent singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, and violist. She has been a member of the bands Helium, Autoclave and Wild Flag, and currently fronts Ex Hex. Timony's music is o ...

, guitarist Nikki Chapman, and drummer Melissa Berkoff.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 785-6

History

Members Christina Billote and Melissa Berkoff began playing together in Washington D.C. in 1989, at that time in the band Hazmat. They later united with Nikki Chapman and Mary Timony, forming Autoclave. On the Diskord label, a split release between Dischord and K Records in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

, they released the ''Go Far'' 7" EP record in 1991. Prior to the band splitting up, the band released a second 10" record on Mira Records (the label belonging to Billote) and Dischord Records, The group broke up in May 1991, with Timony forming

Helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and Billotte forming

Slant 6 Slant 6 was an American punk rock trio based in Washington, D.C. affiliated with early riot grrrl. Slant 6 consisted of Christina Billotte (electric guitar and vocals), Myra Power (electric bass guitar and vocals), and Marge Marshall (drum se ...

in D.C. Timony would later release solo albums on

Lookout! 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 ...

and

Matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

, and release music as a member of Wild Flag and Ex Hex. Billotte later formed Quix-ot-ic and The Casual Dots. Autoclave became known for their intelligent, off-kilter brand of rock that featured sophisticated songwriting and the use of compound and changing meters, thus affiliating them to some extent with the math rock movement. Mira and Dischord released Autoclave's self-titled compilation in 1997. Writing for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'',

Elisabeth Vincentelli Elisabeth Vincentelli is a French-born, New York-based arts and culture journalist. She is a regular contributor to ''The New York Times’ Arts section''. She served as the chief drama critic for the ''New York Post'' from 2009 until 2016, havin ...

considered ''Go Far'' an essential

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. Riot grrrl is a subcultur ...

release and the later compilation "a treasure trove of arrhythmic beats and elliptical lyrics."

Discography

;Anthologies *'' Autoclave'' (1997), Mira/

Dischord Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release ''Minor Disturbance'' by their band The Teen Idles ...

(compiles all the songs from the EPs, plus two songs) – Re-released on CD in 2002 – Remastered and re-released (with different track order) on vinyl in 2019 ;EPs *''Go Far'' (1991), DisKord (Dischord/ K) *''Autoclave'' (1992), Mira/Dischord ;Compilation appearances *'' The Machines: Simple Machines 7"s (1990–1993)'' (1994)

References

External links

Dischord Records article on the band
{{DEFAULTSORT:Autoclave All-female bands Indie rock musical groups from Washington, D.C. Math rock groups American noise rock music groups Dischord Records artists Musical groups from Washington, D.C. Riot grrrl bands