Bulletproof Stockings was an American Hasidic

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band based in Crown Heights, New York. Formed in 2011 by lead singer Perl Wolfe and ex- Hopewell drummer

Dalia Shusterman Dalia Garih Shusterman is a Canadian-American musician, best known as the drummer and backing vocalist for the bands Hopewell, Bulletproof Stockings, and the New Moon All Stars Party Band. Biography Early life Dalia Shusterman was born in ...

, the group independently released its debut EP, ''Down to the Top'' the following year. They were noted for their unique sound among

Jewish music Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. There exist both traditions of religious music, as sung at the synagogue and domestic prayers, and of secular music, such as klezmer. While some elements of Jewish music may originate ...

, as well as their adherence to the prohibition of ''

kol isha ''Tzniut'' ( he, צניעות , , ; "modesty" or "privacy"; ) describes both the character trait of modesty and discretion, as well as a group of Jewish laws pertaining to conduct. The concept is most important within Orthodox Judaism. De ...

'' by performing for female-only audiences.

Band history

Origins (2011-2012)

In 2011, singer-songwriter Perl Wolfe moved from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

's Crown Heights neighborhood. There, she was introduced by a mutual friend to ex- Hopewell drummer

, and the two formed Bulletproof Stockings in December 2011.

''Down to the Top'' EP (2012-2015)

The band independently released their first official recording, ''Down to the Top EP'', on April 1, 2012. A documentary about the band, ''The Bulletproof Stockings'', was screened at the 2013 DOC NYC film festival. On August 7, 2014, the band performed at

Arlene's Grocery Arlene's Grocery is a bar and music venue located in the Lower East Side district of Manhattan. It is located at 95 Stanton Street between Orchard St and Ludlow St. The venue was opened by Shane Doyle and two partners in 1995. Shane Doyle was al ...

in the Lower East Side. The show was filmed by the

Oxygen Network Oxygen (branded on air as Oxygen True Crime) is an American television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, through its Cable Entertainment Group subsidiary. The channel primar ...

for the reality show ''Living Different''.

National tour, ''Homeland Call Stomp'', and separation (2015-2016)

In the spring of 2015, the band launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund their debut full-length album, announcing that they had begun recording at Strange Weather Studios with producers Marc Alan Goodman and Howie Feibusch and would soon release the album's first single, "Mind Clear". The campaign was successful, with the album set for release in late January 2016. In December 2015, the band embarked on their first national tour, the Homeland Winter tour, beginning with a

Hanukkah or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...

concert at

Webster Hall Webster Hall is a nightclub and concert venue located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. It is one of New York City's most historically significant ...

. The tour included stops in New York,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

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, ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. On April 8, 2016, the band announced via Facebook that they had disbanded, and that members would be "

oving Oving may refer to: *Oving, Buckinghamshire *Oving, West Sussex Oving is a small village, and civil and ecclesiastical parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. The village lies about east of the city of Chichester. The civil p ...

on to new chapters." Members of the group subsequently formed the projects PERL and the New Moon All Stars Party Band.

Musical style and performances

Bulletproof Stockings was an

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

indie rock Indie rock is a 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 music they produc ...

band with influences from

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 ...

, pop,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, blues, and funk. They also incorporated their Hasidic faith and tradition, even using the melodic structures from traditional Chabad ''nigunnim''. Their sound was compared to that of

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...

, Fiona Apple, and Florence and the Machine, while the band themselves cited influences including Radiohead,

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums wit ...

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...

, and

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands fr ...

. Lead singer Perl Wolfe was quoted saying that her lyrics, while not always explicitly religious, were nevertheless inspired by "

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

and by Lubavitch’s version of Hasidic faith". In

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

, the band was known for adhering to the rabbinic prohibition of ''

'' by only admitting women to their live shows. "The band can't legally prevent men from attending", says Shusterman, "but people are amazed by the fact that we put the word out and it's pretty much respected." Wolfe argued that this was beneficial to their audience: "Women will party and rock out in a completely different way when there’s nobody there but women."

Band members

* Perl Wolfe —

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, lead vocals,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

(2011-2016) *

— drums,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(2011-2016) * Dana Pestun —

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

(2013-2016) * Elisheva Maister —

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

(2012-2016) ;Touring member * Laura Kegeles — cello

Discography

;Albums *''Homeland Call Stomp'' (2016; unreleased) ;EPs *''Down to the Top EP'' (2012) ;Singles *"Frigid City" (''Down to the Top''; 2012) *"Mind Clear" (''Homeland Call Stomp''; 2015) *"Homeland Call Stomp" (''Homeland Call Stomp''; 2015)

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.bulletproofstockings.com * Iris Mann,
‘Bulletproof Stockings’: Chasidic women rock
, '' The Jewish Journal'', January 2015 * Simi Lampert,
Lady Hasidic Alt Rockers
, ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...

'', October 2012 *
You've Got Bulletproof Stockings
, AOL video interview, February 2013 American Orthodox Jews Musical groups from Brooklyn Jewish musical groups Jewish rock groups Alternative rock groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 2011 People from Crown Heights, Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish women musicians 2011 establishments in New York City