Scrawl

Long before the riot grrrl movement cleared space for numerous women in indie rock, the Columbus, Ohio trio Scrawl had already secured a distinctive foothold that fused toughness with femininity inside the underground. Singer and guitarist Marcy Mays, bassist Sue Harshe, and drummer Carolyn O'Leary formed the band, originally called Skull, and made their live debut in summer 1985 with a twenty-minute opening slot for the Meat Puppets. A year later, funded by friends, they entered the studio to capture their first recordings, resulting in the 1987 release Plus, Also, Too on the small No Other label.

Strong reviews prompted extensive touring, which led to a 1988 deal with Rough Trade. The assured indie-pop album He's Drunk, tracked at Prince’s Paisley Park Studio, appeared soon afterward. In 1990 the group returned with the more intimate Smallmouth, produced by Gary Smith. Contractual difficulties prompted their departure from Rough Trade in autumn 1990; months later the label collapsed, instantly removing the band’s entire catalog from print.

Those setbacks directly shaped the biting, bitter tone of 1991’s Bloodsucker, recorded with Steve Albini, yet poor distribution again pushed the album into obscurity. After O’Leary exited, Mays and Harshe continued as an acoustic duo on the “Foxcore, My Ass” tour, then recruited drummer Dana Marshall before signing with Simple Machines and issuing Velvet Hammer in 1993. Elektra released their major-label debut Travel On, Rider in 1996, followed two years later by Nature Film.