Some Girls

To fully grasp the origins of Some Girls, it helps to trace the earlier path of the Blake Babies. This Boston- and Indianapolis-linked female alternative pop/rock trio came together officially in 2001, yet two of its core members—Boston singer/songwriter Juliana Hatfield and Indiana drummer Freda Love—had already collaborated since 1987. At that point they launched the Blake Babies alongside guitarist John Strohm. Love and Strohm, both Indiana natives, had relocated together to Boston for studies at the Berklee College of Music, whereas Hatfield grew up in New England. Though the Blake Babies never achieved mainstream stardom, their melodic jangle pop cultivated a loyal niche audience within the late-’80s and early-’90s college-rock and indie-rock scenes. The band issued three Hollywood Records full-lengths—Nicely, Nicely, Earwig, and Sunburn—plus the EP Innocence and Experience before disbanding in 1991. Hatfield, recognized for her girlish, waifish vocal style, stayed in Boston and secured a solo deal with Atlantic Records; Strohm and Love returned to Indiana, where they formed Antenna alongside bassist Jake Smith (Love’s husband) and guitarist Vess Ruhtenberg. Following Antenna’s dissolution in 1994, Love and Smith assembled the Mysteries of Life with Vulgar Boatmen keyboardist Dale Lawrence, while Strohm briefly fronted Velo-Deluxe before embarking on a mid-’90s solo career centered on alternative country and No Depression sounds. By the late ’90s, Love and Smith were performing together in Lola.

Despite the individual projects that occupied Hatfield, Love, and Strohm after the Blake Babies split, supporters continued to call for a reunion, which materialized in 2000. That year the original trio toured North America and cut the reunion album God Bless the Blake Babies, issued by Rounder in 2001. Although the Blake Babies did not remain active, Hatfield and Love chose to sustain their partnership, leading directly to the formation of Some Girls. In 2001 they recruited bassist Heidi Gluck of the Pieces, a musician Love had known in Indianapolis. The new group took its name from the Rolling Stones’ landmark 1978 album, widely viewed as their strongest work of the decade’s second half. Hatfield, Love, and Gluck count the Stones among their influences, alongside the Vaselines, the Bangles, R.E.M., and the Beatles. With Hatfield handling lead vocals and guitar, Gluck covering bass, keyboards, harmonica, and backing vocals, and Love on drums and backing vocals, Some Girls tracked their debut album, Feel It, in 2002; Koch Records released it in 2003.