The Raincoats
The Raincoats, seminal post-punk band, ‘godmothers of grunge' and inspiration to a generation of riot grrrls, are celebrating over three decades of doing things the way they think they should be done. In 1977 Gina Birch and Ana da Silva met and formed The Raincoats and their journey has led them to becoming one of the most important underground bands Britain has ever produced.
The Raincoats created a sound that, while inspired by punk and rock music that had come before was uniquely and uncompromisingly powerful and female, and which has held a fascination over all those lucky enough to have stumbled across it. The famous story is of course that of Kurt Cobain travelling to the Rough Trade shop in Talbot Road in 1992 in an attempt to replace his worn out copy of the bands first album ‘The Raincoats', a trip that in the end led to reissues of the band's back catalogue and the offer of a tour with Nirvana that sadly never took place. Since then The Raincoats have made rare live appearances in the UK at Matt Groening and Pavement's ATP in 2010 and Jeff Mangum's ATP in 2012.
The Raincoats inspire in their fans a kind of generous enthusiasm and genuine respect that is rare and difficult to explain. Kim Gordon wrote in the sleeve-notes to the 1993 reissue of Odyshape, "It was The Raincoats I related to most. They seemed like ordinary people playing extraordinary music. Music that was natural that made room for cohesion of personalities. They had enough confidence to be vulnerable and to be themselves without having to take on the mantle of male rock/punk rock aggression...or the typical female as sex symbol avec irony or sensationalism."