Best Revenge was a
queercore
Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifical ...
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band from
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. They were active as a studio and live act from the beginning of 1998 until December 2002.
History
Best Revenge was formed by members Ryan Revenge (vocals/guitar) and KT (bass/vocals) in early 1998. The two were previously in a band called Happybomb while attending college at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
.
Revenge pitched to KT his idea of putting together a melodic punk rock band with queer-oriented lyrics, playing her a few songs he'd been working on including one that would later become one of the band's anthems, "Punk Rock Fag."
While searching for a rehearsal space and a drummer, the two found both when they answered an ad to rent a garage space in Venice Beach, CA. The garage space was coincidentally at the former home of Jordan Crane, and the current occupant of the house was Bilito Peligro, who later joined the band on
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
.
The gathering scene created the need for a record label to document the music that would probably never find a place in the major label mainstream. Peligro and Revenge responded by starting up Spitshine Records, which went on to put out all of Best Revenge's releases as well as releases by local acts IAMLOVED, $3 Puta, Brian Grillo (of Extra Fancy and
Lock Up), Hot-N-Heavy, the Sharpease and a Freak Show compilation CD.
Post-Best Revenge
After Best Revenge, Ryan Revenge played with the bands
Exit Plan and Terrazzo.
In June 2012, he completed his doctoral work in Political Science, earning a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. He is currently employed as an associate professor at
Bradley University
Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. The ...
. Bilito Peligro and Frisky McNichol played with the Gay-Gays, the all-gay
Go-Go's
The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belind ...
tribute band. Bilito has continued playing drums for Los Angeles bands Miata, Temperamentals, and Local Channel (LCL CHNNL). KT skated as Trixie Biscuit on a banked track roller derby team called Fight Crew, performs as a stunt woman in film and television, and is Operations Specialist at the
Maximum Fun
Maximum Fun is an independent podcast and radio show production organization founded and run by Jesse Thorn. The organization originated with Thorn's college radio show '' The Sound of Young America'' which continued in an adapted format and wit ...
podcast network.
The Best Revenge song, "Know You", was featured in the 2004 gay horror film
Hellbent, which also featured songs by such notable queercore bands as Three Dollar Bill and
Pansy Division
Pansy Division is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, San Francisco, California, United States, in 1991 by singer-songwriter Jon Ginoli and bassist Chris Freeman (musician), Chris Freeman.
Conceived as the first openly hom ...
.
Best Revenge was featured in the 2005 book ''
Homocore:The Loud and Raucous Rise of Queer Punk'' by Ken Knox and David Ciminelli.
[*Ciminelli, David, and Knox, Ken, ''Homocore: The Loud and Raucous Rise of Queer Punk'', Alyson Books, 2005]
Discography
LPs and EPs
Compilation appearances
Band members
The band experienced several lineup changes, first spurred by the departure of bassist KT just after the completion of the ''Starts With You'' full-length.
Lineup 1, 1998-December 2001:
Ryan Revenge, vocals and guitar
KT, bass and vocals
Bilito Peligro, drums and vocals
Lineup 2, January 2002-May 2002:
Ryan Revenge, vocals and guitar
Bilito Peligro, drums and vocals
Shug, bass and vocals
Lineup 3, May 2002-December 2002:
Ryan Revenge, vocals and guitar
Bilito Peligro, drums and vocals
Glen Livid, bass
Frisky McNicholl, second guitar and vocals
Lineup 4, final show December 6, 2002:
Ryan Revenge, vocals and guitar
Bilito Peligro, drums and vocals
KT, bass and vocals
Frisky McNicholl, second guitar and vocals
References
{{reflist
External links
Spitshine Records SiteBest Revenge Site
from In LA magazine
Article
in Phoenix New Times
Punk rock groups from California
Queercore groups