The Contractions is an early-Eighties all-female
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 ...
power trio based in San Francisco. The band consisted of Mary Kelley on guitar and vocals, Debbie Hopkins on drums and vocals, and Kathy Peck on bass and vocals. A review in ''
BAM magazine'' calls the band "The hottest all woman group ever to come out of the
Bay Area."
According to the group's own website: "The Contractions burned across the national Punk/New Wave scene from 1979 through 1985. Their rough-edged music mixed an urban garage-rock sound with a pop/new wave sensibility and grabbed immediate fan and critical support. One moment they were playing straight-ahead rock’n’roll, a classic power-trio — Debbie a veteran drummer with jazz sensibilities; Kathy on her Hofner playing a melodic bass-line; Mary with her
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s.
Townsh ...
-windmill guitar strumming. Then, just when you thought you knew what you were listening to, the band would become
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
and
Link Wray all wrapped into one, with Mary singing poetry over slow, mesmerizing, watery guitar, then tearing into a guitar solo worthy of
Eric Clapton."
Bassist Kathy Peck is Co-Founder and Executive Director of
H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers).
Kim Morris joined the band in 1982 as keyboard player, singer and songwriter, but left for personal reasons after one short year.
External links
The Contractions Official websiteMusic Life Radio Interview with Kathy Peck - June 2012
All-female punk bands
{{US-punk-band-stub