Allison Wolfe

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Allison Wolfe (born November 9, 1969) is a Washington, DC-based singer, songwriter, and zine writer who has been the lead vocalist for several punk rock groups including Bratmobile and Partyline.

Allison Wolfe and her sister Cindy were born identical twins in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 9, 1969. Together with their sister Molly, they grew up in Olympia, Washington. Their parents divorced when they were all still young children, and they were raised by their mother, Pat Shively. A radical feminist and self-described lesbian, Shively founded Olympia's Eastside Women's Health Clinic in 1981. It was the first women's clinic in Thurston County, and throughout Shively's two decades of work it was the target of relentless anti-abortion demonstrations. The protests could be harrowing: Wolfe's mother endured verbal and physical abuse, and death threats forced her to go to the clinic armed and wearing a bulletproof vest. (The EWHC was razed in a fire in 2005, set by a still-unidentified arsonist.) Pat Shively died of ovarian cancer in February, 2000, and Wolfe credits her as being a lifelong influence, a feminist role model "almost too big to live up to."

In 1988, Wolfe spent time as an exchange student in Thailand's Krathum Baen District. She returned to attend Evergreen State College in Olympia, and later the University of Oregon at Eugene.

Bratmobile

Wolfe and Neuman took the themes of their zines to music. Like Hanna and Vail who reappropriated the name Bikini Kill for their own band, Wolfe and Neuman joined with guitarist Erin Smith to form their own, Bratmobile, in 1991. Both bands recorded for Kill Rock Stars, an Olympia-based independent label. Bratmobile released their first full-length album, Pottymouth, in 1992.

After Bratmobile ended in a disturbing onstage breakup in New York City in 1994, Wolfe and Smith eventually reunited to form Cold Cold Hearts with an expanded rhythm section provided by drummer Katherine Brown and bassist "Nattles". The band toured extensively and released one self-titled album in 1997. Wolfe later sang with Deep Lust, her first band with male musicians which she lightheartedly describes as "my boy band". Deep Lust also toured and released one self-titled album on Kill Rock Stars in 2000.

Bratmobile reformed in 1999 and released two more albums, Ladies, Women and Girls (2000) and Girls Get Busy (2002).

Partyline

Wolfe started a Washington D.C. based band, Partyline, in 2004. The band released two full-length albums, Girls With Glasses (2005) and Zombie Terrorist (2006).

Wolfe remains involved in what she terms "cultural activism", not only with Partyline, but also with the bands Dig Yr Grave, Deep Lust, Hawnay Troof and its offshoot, Baby Truth. She also initiated Ladyfest and has been involved in Bands Against Bush. Allison did the English adaption for Nana, a punk rock-themed manga series. She also occasionally wrote cultural arts pieces for the Washington Post. Allison currently lives in Echo Park, Los Angeles, and sings for two bands respectively called Cool Moms and Sex Stains.

Studio albums

• Pottymouth (1993) LP/CD/CS (Kill Rock Stars)
• Ladies, Women and Girls (2000) CD/LP, (Lookout! Records)
• Girls Get Busy (2002) CD/LP (Lookout! Records)

EPs

• The Real Janelle (1994) LPEP/CDEP (Kill Rock Stars)

Live albums

• The Peel Session CDEP (Strange Fruit)

Singles

• Kiss & Ride 7" (Homestead Records)

Split 7"

• Tiger Trap/ Bratmobile split 7" (4-Letter Words)
• Heavens to Betsy/ Bratmobile split 7" (K Records)
• Brainiac/ Bratmobile split 7" (12X12)
• Veronica Lake/ Bratmobile split 7" (Simple Machines)

Compilation appearances

• Kill Rock Stars compilation, CD/LP, (Kill Rock Stars)
• A Wonderful Treat compilation cassette
• The Embassy Tapes cassette
• Throw compilation CD (Yoyo Recordings)
• International Pop Underground live LP/CD/CS (K Records)
• Neapolitan Metropolitan boxed 7" set (Simple Machines)
• Teen Beat 100 compilation 7" (Teen Beat)
• Julep compilation LP/CD (Yo Yo)
• Wakefield Vol. 2 V/A CD boxed set (Teen Beat)
• Plea For Peace Take Action compilation CD (Sub City)
• Boys Lie compilation CD (Lookout! Records)
• Yo Yo A Go Go 1999 compilation CD (Yoyo Recordings)
• Lookout! Freakout Episode 2 compilation CD (Lookout! Records)
• Songs For Cassavetes compilation CD (Better Looking Records)
• Lookout! Freakout Episode 3 CD (Lookout! Records)
• Turn-On Tune-In Lookout! DVD (Lookout! Records)

Studio albums

• Cold Cold Hearts (1997)

Singles

• Yer So Sweet (Baby Donut) (1996)

• Girls With Glasses 5-song demo CDR August 2004
• Girls With Glasses 6-song debut CDEP (Retard Disco) June 2005
• Spider and the Webs/Partyline split 7" (Local Kid) October 2005
• Zombie Terrorist debut full-length CD (Retard Disco) October 24, 2006
• Bad For The Baby 7" (Moonflower Records) November, 2009