L7 (band)

L7 is an American all-female rock band founded in Los Angeles, California, first active from 1985 to 2001 and re-formed in 2014. Their longest standing lineup consists of Suzi Gardner (guitars, vocals), Donita Sparks (vocals, guitars), Jennifer Finch (bass, vocals), and Dee Plakas (drums, vocals). L7 has released seven studio albums and has toured widely in the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, and South America. "Pretend We're Dead" was heavily played on US alternative radio and entered the top 10 on the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock chart in 1992.

Due to their sound and image, L7 is often associated with the grunge movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s. As an all-female band, L7 formed Rock for Choice in 1991 and have, at times, also been linked to riot grrrl, although they preceded and are outliers of both the grunge and riot grrrl movements. The band's name, L7, derives from a slang term for square, and was deliberately chosen as a gender neutral sign. A documentary film about the band, ''L7: Pretend We're Dead'', premiered in 2016.

History

Formation and early years (1985—1989)

L7 were formed by Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner in 1985. Both artists were active in the Art punk community of Echo Park and had met in 1984 through mutual contacts at the cultural hub of the ''LA Weekly''. Of their meeting and on hearing Gardner play a tape of her songs in progress, Sparks described it as "one of the happiest days of my life" with a clear synchronicity in the music they were each interested in creating. At the time, Gardner was also active as a poet. A year prior, Gardner had performed backing vocals on the college radio hit "Slip It In" by Black Flag. Gardner and Sparks began performing regularly in Los Angeles at punk and metal venues along with a revolving list of supporting musicians in the early years.

The punk rock duo brought Jennifer Finch on board as bass guitarist and Roy Koutsky on drums. Finch, with the strongest Californian roots of the four, connected the band with an even wider network, including Brett Gurewitz of Epitaph Records where the band recorded their first demo. Their eponymous debut album, described as "intense, energetic" and "fast straightforward punk music" was released by Epitaph Records in 1987. L7 reported challenges in the early years with finding a suitable, stable drummer. Shortly after the release of ''L7'', Koutsky quit the band and was replaced by Anne Anderson. Subsequently, Anderson left at the end of the touring cycle for the ''L7'' record, and Demetra "Dee" Plakas was recruited by the band in late 1989 which completed the band's first stabilized lineup as an all-female band.

Time with Sub Pop (1989—1991)

The band released (“Shove”/“Packin’ a Rod”) in 1989 as the Sub Pop Single of the Month. L7 reportedly spent a short time in Seattle in the early 1990s. L7's next album, ''Smell the Magic'', was released in 1990 on Sub Pop and earned a four star review by ''Rolling Stone'' who stated "With Donita Sparks' and Suzi Gardner's twin lockstep guitars racing down the highway to hell, ''Smell the Magic'' was one of Sub Pop's finest hours." L7 traveled to England and opened for Nirvana on several dates in 1990.

In August 1991, L7 performed at the International Pop Underground Convention (IPU) held in Olympia, Washington. The IPU was organized around a fiercely independent DIY ethic, with L7 the only band with major label representation, having recently signed with Slash Records (a subsidiary of London Records).

Rock for Choice

In 1991, the band formed Rock for Choice, a pro-choice women's rights group and concert series that raised funds to cover legal expenses due to the prolonged Anti-abortion violence and women's clinic bombings of the 1980s and 1990s. The concept for Rock for Choice, generated by L7 and Sue Cummings, senior editor at the ''LA Weekly'', was loosely modeled on Bob Geldof's Live Aid. L7 performed along with Nirvana, Sister Double Happiness, and Hole at the inaugural event held at the Hollywood Palace on October 25, 1991. Thanks to a conversation between members of L7 and Dave Grohl at an afterparty following the first show, subsequent Rock for Choice posters were designed in a distinctive underground comix style by SoCal artist Jim Evans/TAZ collective.

Rock for Choice founders L7 and Cummings, along with punk rock promoter and Cochella co-founder Rick Van Santen of Goldenvoice, laid the framework for the inaugural concert. The group created kits with information to empower activists to stage a Rock for Choice benefit in their own towns. The ''New York Times'' reported that within two years of launching Rock for Choice, there had already been 37 such concerts nationwide.

L7 performed at the September 27, 1992 Rock for Choice benefit concert at the Hollywood Palladium along with Exene Cervenka, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Mudhoney. In October 1993, seven bands played a sold out Rock for Choice benefit including the beloved Los Angeles bands X and Firehose, and featuring the headliner Rage Against the Machine. L7 band members took to the stage, each in a guise of a beauty contestant wearing a sash listing a city where anti-abortion violence had erupted: Sparks as "Ms Bakersfield, CA," Plakas as "Ms. Lancaster, PA," Finch as "Ms. Peoria, IL," and Gardner as “Ms. Newport Beach, CA."

Later Rock for Choice concerts included the Foo Fighters, Ween, Pearl Jam, and other prominent bands of the era. L7 returned their focus to their music, reducing their involvement with Rock for Choice, which continued on independently through 2001.

Major label releases with Slash (1991—1997)

Their 1992 third album ''Bricks Are Heavy'', produced by Butch Vig, was featured in ''Rolling Stone'' May 1999 list of 'Essential recordings of the 1990s', and was their most critically and commercially successful release. When Sparks reached out to Yoko Ono to request permission to sample her scream in the opening track "Wargasm," Ono reportedly replied that she had her fingers crossed for the group as it was time for their music to get popular. Their 1992 single "Pretend We're Dead" spent 13 weeks on the US Alternative Songs chart while peaking at the No. 8 position, and it had also peaked at No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart. The singles "Everglade" and "Monster" also made appearances on the UK Singles chart. In their listing of the top 50 grunge songs, '' Paste'' magazine included "Pretend We're Dead" as number 21. L7 went on a year long tour to promote ''Bricks Are Heavy.'' ''Variety'' reported in 1992 that L7 had built a huge underground following all over the world due to repeatedly touring. The popularity of ''Bricks Are Heavy'' was also boosted by frequent video play on MTV. By June 2000, ''Bricks Are Heavy'' had sold 327,000 copies in the US.

In a July 1993 article for ''Spin'' which featured L7 on the magazine's cover, Renée Crist described L7 as "four of the funniest, meanest, strongest, coolest, most pissed-off women I know" and as "wild, rambunctious, spontaneous" with a stage show that "is a wash of buddy love, crowd working, and acrobatics".

L7's fourth album, '' Hungry for Stink'', was released in July 1994. The album peaked at No. 117 on the Billboard 200 chart, their highest position to date. "Andres" was the lead single off the album, which peaked at No. 20 on the US Alternative Songs and No. 34 on the UK Singles charts. The band continued to be regarded as a strong live act and performed on the main stage of the Lollapalooza tour in 1994, which also included The Smashing Pumpkins, the Beastie Boys, George Clinton, Nick Cave, A Tribe Called Quest

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