Poison Girls

A British punk unit whose thoughtful explorations of issues of sexuality and gender conflicts presaged the riot grrrl movement of the 1990s, the Poison Girls were actually a male backing band formed around a singer and guitar player calling herself Vi Subversa. Released in 1979, the Girls' debut, Hex, was produced by Crass drummer Penny Rimbaud, as was the following year's Chappaquiddick Bridge. While the guitar-based music on both records was fairly subtle, Subversa's lyrics were anything but, tackling issues of politics, normalcy, romance, and feminism with fury and intellig...