The Third Sex

The Third Sex were from Portland, Oregon. They were part of the queercore movement that took place in the mid 90s. A friend of mine at KDVS thought they sounded more old school Portland (specifically like Neo Boys if I remember correctly) than anything else at the time. They were a three piece with Trish and Peyton trading off vocals and guitar and bass with different drummers filling in. Their first seven inch release, Mombies, was an instant hit on my radio show. They weren't as polished or musically accomplished as some of their peers (Sleater-Kinney and Team Dresch come to mind) but the music was passionate regardless. Lyrically they tackled the usual riot grrrl topics but somehow the music was more interesting to my ears than some of those bands like Bratmobile, who I always thought were boring. The main draw for me was hearing songs that felt like they were about my life. Songs about girl/girl love were still a novelty to me and at the time I found them incredibly important. I thought I would focus on lesser available tracks today though I do recommend their full length albums, both available from Chainsaw Records still, I think. If not, there's always ebay! I would like to mention that I once went on a road trip to Portland to go on a date with a certain member of this band. It was ridiculous and awesome and sort of epitomized the indie aesthetic to me - you could be anyone and be in a band and you could be anyone and talk to a band or go on a date with someone from one of your favorite bands. It sounds absurd but somehow it was really powerful to be able to feel like you were that close to what was going on.

Special thanks to Blowin' Your Cover for ripping this 7" for me!
Mombies

This track is from the Free To Fight compilation.
Monster Snack