Girls Against Boys is an indie rock/post-hardcore band, originally forming in washington dc in 1988 and currently based in new york city.
The group began as a side project of Eli Janney and Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty. Canty soon left the project and by 1991 Janney had gone on to recruit three former members of D.C. hardcore punk group Soulside - Scott McCloud, Johnny Temple, and Alexis Fleisig - to complete the line-up. Girls Against Boys are perhaps most notable for employing dual bass guitars, a rarity in rock music, and for their second album, “Venus Luxure No.1 Baby”, a heavy yet nuanced entry into early 1990s post-hardcore. Their second album Cruise Yourself raised their profile, film director Kevin Smith used a song in each of his first two films. House of GvsB showed their sound taking a more soulful approach to their noiserock with a semi-successful single “Superfire”, at which point they signed to Geffen. Their major label debut saw them take a more industrial disco approach similar to Nine Inch Nails while retaining their postpunk feel, the album failed to launch the band into the mainstream and the band went on hiatus until their contract ended. Among the many side projects undertaken was Scott McCloud’s jazzy New Wet Kojak. The band reunited in 2002 to record ‘You Can’t Fight What You Can’t See’, released on Jade Tree Records which was a welcome return to their pre-Geffen sound and a critical success. The band have also recorded music for the soundtrack of the film Series 7: The Contenders, appeared as themselves in the film 200 Cigarettes and acted as Gina Gershon’s backing band for her reality tv series! The band recently performed Venus Luxure for the Don’t Look Back concerts. |
