Huggy Bear were an English

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 ...

band, formed in 1991 and based in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

History

Evolving in tandem with the

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 ...

-based riot grrrl movement led by

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

bands such as

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the ...

, Huggy Bear called themselves "girl-boy revolutionaries", both in reference to their political philosophy and the gender makeup of their band. For the majority of their existence, they refused to be photographed or interviewed by mainstream press, nor gave their full names once they began releasing records formally. In spite of a

major label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

bidding war, Huggy Bear stayed with

indie label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Wiiija. Their

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

debut EP, ''Rubbing the Impossible to Burst'', was released in 1992, and in the same year they began working closely with Bikini Kill as riot grrrl's popularity peaked on both sides of the Atlantic, culminating in a split album on Catcall Records (Huggy Bear) and Kill Rock Stars (Bikini Kill) called '' Our Troubled Youth/ Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah'', the names of the Huggy Bear and Bikini Kill sides, respectively. Huggy Bear then released a series of EPs, which were collected on ''Taking the Rough with the Smooch''. No longer featuring Slade on guitar, Huggy Bear released two more singles and '' Weaponry Listens to Love'' in 1994, their first full-length album as well as their final release. On 14 February 1993, Huggy Bear performed "Her Jazz" on the British television programme, '' The Word''. After their set, the band stayed in the studio to watch a report on two American models who called themselves " the Barbi Twins". Huggy Bear and their fans became upset at this and started shouting at the show's presenter

Terry Christian Terence Christian (born 8 May 1960) is a British broadcaster, journalist and author. He has presented several national television series in the UK including Channel 4's late night entertainment show '' The Word'' (1990–1995) and six series o ...

. They were ejected from the studio, and a spokesperson for ''The Word'' later claimed that one of the band's friends had "bit the face of a member of our production team." Future

Goldblade Goldblade are an English punk rock band from Manchester, England. The band formed in early 1995 when ex Membranes frontman, John Robb, put the band together with Wayne Simmons and former Membranes and A Witness vocalist Keith Curtis on bas ...

frontman and editor of music blog Louderthanwar, John Robb was with the band in the studio and said no-one got bitten and the security was heavy-handed and had to be calmed down. The performance was given a ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' cover story, the event being compared to

the Sex Pistols ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

' Bill Grundy incident.

Other projects

Members of Huggy Bear also played as the Furbelows. In 1993, Rowley and Johnson released an EP as The Element of Crime on Soul Static Sound records, with members of

Linus Linus, a male given name, is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Linos''. It's a common given name in Sweden. The origin of the name is unknown although the name appears in antiquity both as a musician who taught Apollo and as a son of Apollo who di ...

Skinned Teen Skinned Teen was a riot grrrl band from London, England, active in the early 1990s. They have been cited as an inspiration by Beth Ditto, Kathleen Hanna, Gina Birch and Josephine Olausson of Love Is All. History Skinned Teen was formed by teen ...

Sister George Sister George was an English queercore band from London that was formed in 1994. The group's name was inspired by the 1968 film ''The Killing of Sister George'', which was an adaptation of the play of the same name. Although queercore bands h ...

and

Blood Sausage A blood sausage is a sausage filled with blood that is cooked or dried and mixed with a filler until it is thick enough to solidify when cooled. Most commonly, the blood of pigs, sheep, lamb, cow, chicken, or goose is used. In Europe and the A ...

. Elliott and Johnson also joined Blood Sausage, while Rowley assisted Skinned Teen live and with artwork, and Elliot guested on their 1994 album. After leaving Huggy Bear, Hill formed Phantom Pregnancies with Delia from

Mambo Taxi Mambo Taxi were an English, London-based British indie band, linked with riot grrrl, who formed in 1991 and split up in 1995.Mason, StewartMambo Taxi Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2011-02-01 History Mambo Taxi were inspired by the UK garage ...

and Sean from

Wat Tyler Wat Tyler (c. 1320/4 January 1341 – 15 June 1381) was a leader of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in England. He led a group of rebels from Canterbury to London to oppose the institution of a poll tax and to demand economic and social reforms. Wh ...

. Slade briefly joined I'm Being Good, and then

Comet Gain Comet Gain are a British indie pop band, formed by singer-songwriter and guitarist David Christian (aka David Feck/Charlie Damage) in 1992, with musical influences including post-punk and northern soul. Pitchfork called them "one of the most un ...

. In 2014, Jo Johnson released a solo ambient album called ''Weaving'' on Further Records. In 2019, Chris Rowley formed a new band called Adulkt Life with former members of

Male Bonding In ethology and social science, male bonding or male friendship is the formation of close personal relationships, and patterns of friendship or cooperation between males. In the context of human relationships, male bonding is used to describe fr ...

. On 27 November of that year, they played their first show at the Lexington in London. They released their first single and a digital zine on 18 August 2020, "County Pride", on

What's Your Rupture? What's Your Rupture? is a New York-based independent record label, that specializes in small-run vinyl releases. The label gained recognition in 2005 with the release of Love Is All's '' Nine Times That Same Song'', and a 12" release of ''Giddy S ...

Line-up

*Niki Eliot: bass and vocals *Jo Johnson: guitar and vocals *Karen Hill: drums and piano *Chris Rowley: vocals, trumpet and piano *Jon Slade: guitar

Discography

Albums

*'' Our Troubled Youth'' (Huggy Bear), mini LP split with Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah (Bikini Kill), 8 March '93, CATCALL / Kill Rock Stars 206 *'' Weaponry Listens to Love'', LP/CD, 21 Nov '94, WIIIJA

Compilations

*''We Bitched'', cass, '92, WIIIJA emo recordings, inc. exclusive tracks Coral Kill; Sour Creamer Stag, Bumper Sticker, Cherry Cherry*''Huggy Nation / Kisser Boy Kisser Girl'', cass, '92, Soul Static Sound /A compilation inc. Huggy Bear & side projects*''Taking the Rough with the Smooch'', LP/CD, '93, KILL ROCK STARS/WIIIJA ompilation of WIIIJA 18/WIIIJA 23/Trouble 001*''For Every Wolf That Roams'', cass, '94, Famous Monsters of Filmland ive at the Square, Harlow

Singles and EPs

*''Rubbing the Impossible to Burst'' 7", SEPT'92, WIIIJA 16, Ltd edition of 2000 pressed atholic Kunt; High Street Jupiter Supercone // Snail Messenger Loss; Single Bullets*''Kiss Curl for the Kid's Lib Guerrillas'', 7", DEC'92, WIIIJA 18 erwin; Sizzlemeet // Concrete Life; Carnt Kiss*"14 February" / "Into the Mission" – one-sided 7" given out at a Brighton gig, 14.2.93 *''Her Jazz'', 7", 93, CATCALL/WIIIJA – Trouble001 er Jazz // Prayer; Pro No From Now*''Shimmies in the Super 8'', double 7", 4 songs of Huggy Bear, 2 of Darlin', 1 of COLM, 1 of Stereolab, 1993, DUOPHONIC, Ltd edition of 800 rafalgar Square; Godziller; More Music From Bells; Snow White, Rose Red*''Don't Die'', 7", AUG'93, WIIIJA 23 issthentic Penetration; Teen Tighterns; No Sleep // Shaved Pussy Poetry; Pansy Twist*''Long Distance Lovers'', 7", '94, GRAVITY No. 9 teppin on Bugs; Limit 2 Surf // Tuff Lovin; Code Fucker*''Main Squeeze'', miniCD, '94, FELLAHEEN RECORDS Jack 011-2 hildren Absent From Heaven Says; Red Flipper No. 2; My Best Kiss

References

External links

Huggy Bear videos at World NewsAllmusic biogTaking the Rough with the Smooch reviewWeaponry LP review – AllmusicWeaponry LP review – FuriaWeaponry LP review – PunknewsHuggy Bear tribute – The Guardian, 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huggy Bear Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 1994 Kill Rock Stars artists English punk rock groups Riot grrrl bands Musical groups from Brighton and Hove 1991 establishments in England 1994 disestablishments in England Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom