Bitch Magnet was an American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band who formed in 1986 at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and later moved to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, United States. They released their first record in 1988. All of the band's albums were released on Communion Records in the US; they were also signed to the European labels Shigaku/What Goes On and

Glitterhouse Glitterhouse Records is a German independent record label and mail order company based in Beverungen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in the mid-1980s. From the late 1980s until the mid-1990s it was the European branch of the American la ...

. The band disbanded in 1991. Frontman

Sooyoung Park Sooyoung Park (born 1967) is an American and South Korean singer-songwriter, best known for fronting the bands Bitch Magnet and Seam. In 1995 he co-founded Foundation of Asian American Independent Media, an art festival dedicated to showcasing ...

later formed the band Seam with

Mac McCaughan Ralph Lee "Mac" McCaughan (; born July 12, 1967) is an American musician and record label owner, based in North Carolina. His main musical projects have been Superchunk since 1989 and Portastatic since the early 1990s. In 1989 he founded the ind ...

(of Superchunk) and Lexi Mitchell. Post-Seam, Park also played guitar in Ee.

David Grubbs David Grubbs (born September 21, 1967) is an American composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingdale ...

, who was a founding member of

Squirrel Bait Squirrel Bait was an American punk rock band from Louisville, Kentucky active from 1983 to 1987. Squirrel Bait's dense, moody, melodic hardcore sound, featuring pronounced tempo shifts, foreshadowed the grunge sound of the late 1980s as well a ...

, was briefly a member of the band while also leading

Bastro Bastro was an American post-hardcore band which was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's main line-up consisted of David Grubbs on guitar, Clark Johnson on bass guitar, and John McEntire on drums. The band also experimented wit ...

. Orestes Morfin went on to drum for

Walt Mink Walt Mink were an American alternative rock power trio formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota in 1989 by guitarist/singer/songwriter John Kimbrough, drummer Joey Waronker and bassist Candice Belanoff. The band released four studio a ...

and God Rifle. Jon Fine formed Vineland and Coptic Light, and was briefly a touring guitarist for

Don Caballero Don Caballero (often shortened by members as 'Don Cab') was an American instrumental rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Although the band has had numerous lineup changes with co-founder Damon Che (drums and percussion) being the only con ...

. On March 31, 2011, Bitch Magnet announced that the line-up of Fine, Morfin and Park - the band's original recorded line-up - would reunite to perform at the

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

festival "Nightmare Before Christmas," held in the UK in December 2011. In addition to performing at ATP, the band also played shows in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

and in the Netherlands at Groningen's Vera club. The band played its first reunion shows in Asia in November 2011, in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. In the spring of 2012 Bitch Magnet played additional shows in Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Manila. It concluded its reunion with a tour of America in autumn, 2012, performing in Seattle, San Francisco, two shows in New York, and its final show in Chicago, at the Empty Bottle. Bitch Magnet's three albums were reissued on December 6, 2011 by

Temporary Residence Limited Temporary Residence Limited (shortened TRL) is a Brooklyn, New York-based record label. TRL was started in Louisville, Kentucky in 1996 by Jeremy DeVine, and initially concentrated on releasing music by Louisville-based bands.

, as a deluxe limited-edition triple-LP set and as a triple CD. The reissues include non-LP tracks and previously unreleased recordings that were remixed with

John Congleton John Congleton is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, engineer, mixer, writer and musician. In addition to his production work, Congleton has fronted the alternative rock band the Paper Chase, and writes music for a newer project e ...

in late 2010.

Members

Final line-up

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(1986–1990, 2011–2012) *Jon Fine –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(1986–1990, 2011–2012) *Orestes Morfín (aka Orestes Delatorre) –

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 ...

(1987–1990, 2011–2012)

Former members

*Jay Oelbaum – drums (1986) *

– guitar (1989) *David Galt – guitar (1989) *Pete Pollack – drums (1990)

Discography

Albums

*''

Umber Umber is a natural brown earth pigment that contains iron oxide and manganese oxide. In its natural form, it is called raw umber. When Calcination, calcined, the color becomes warmer and it becomes known as burnt umber. Its name derives from '' ...

'' (1989) *'' Ben Hur'' (1990)

EPs and singles

*'' Star Booty'' (1988) *"Valmead" b/w "Pea" - split with

Codeine Codeine is an opiate and prodrug of morphine mainly used to treat pain, coughing, and diarrhea. It is also commonly used as a recreational drug. It is found naturally in the sap of the opium poppy, ''Papaver somniferum''. It is typically use ...

(1990,

also released as 12" with live versions of "Big Pining" and "Navajo Ace") *"Mesentery" & "Motor" b/w "Big Pining (alternate version)" (1990, Waterfront) *"Sadie" b/w "Where Eagles Fly" (cover of

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

song "Where Eagles Dare") included in limited release of ''Ben Hur'' LP (1990) *"Sadie" b/w "Ducks and Drakes (live)" (1991,

Caff Records Caff Records was a short lived British independent record label run by Bob Stanley of the band Saint Etienne. The label grew out of a fanzine Stanley put out with fellow band member Pete Wiggs, with the label going by the name Caff, Caff Record ...

)

Compilations

*''Endangered Species'', a 6 record box set compilation of 7" singles, released by Glitterhouse,1991, contains one track by Bitch Magnet: "White Piece of Bread" (alternate side with

Bullet LaVolta Bullet LaVolta was an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in January 1987 by four college disk jockeys: Clay Tarver (guitar, now of Chavez), Bill Whelan (bass), Corey "Loog" Brennan (guitar) and Chris "Cruster" Guttmacher ( ...

's "Hello There") *''

Bitch Magnet Bitch Magnet was an American post-hardcore band who formed in 1986 at Oberlin College in Ohio and later moved to North Carolina, United States. They released their first record in 1988. All of the band's albums were released on Communion Records ...

'', a triple-CD set containing ''Ben Hur'' with "White Piece of Bread" and "Sadie", ''Umber'' with "Motor (alternate mix)", and ''Star Booty'' with alternate versions of "Sadie" and four other ''Umber'' songs. Also released as a triple-LP set. (Temporary Residence Limited, 2011)

Music videos

* "Mesentery" (1990)

References

External links

* Online history of BM {{Authority control Musical groups from Ohio Musical groups from North Carolina American post-hardcore musical groups American noise rock music groups American musical trios Musical groups established in 1986 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 Musical groups reestablished in 2011 Glitterhouse Records artists