Biography

Leeds post-punk band Girls at Our Best! was short-lived, but accomplished some significant noise in their brief existence. The band's angular, tension-heavy songwriting fit in with the style LiLiPUT, the Raincoats, Delta 5, and the like were exploring around the same late-'70s/early-'80s window, but Girls at Our Best!'s buzzsaw guitars and new wave undercurrents added an additional layer of caustic excitement. The band informally ceased activity circa 1982, but left behind several EPs and the sole 1981 album Pleasure, which would go on to be considered an essential post-punk primer. Girls at Our Best! was formed in Leeds, England in 1979 by vocalist Judy Evans, guitarist James Alan, and bassist Gerald Swift. Originally dubbed the Butterflies, they kicked around the British punk scene and were on the verge of disbanding when they responded to an advertisement posted by a Cambridge-area recording studio offering half-off session rates. With the aid of drummer Chris Oldroyd, the group recorded two tracks, "Warm Girls" and "Getting Nowhere Fast." In the spring of 1980, the demo was released as a single on Rough Trade under the name Girls at Our Best!, an appellation taken from a lyric in "Warm Girls." With session drummer Paul Simon, the band soon re-entered the studio to cut their second single, "Politics," which like its predecessor topped the U.K. indie charts. After the permanent addition of former Expelaires drummer Carl Harper, Girls at Our Best! issued a third single, "Go for Gold," followed in 1981 by the release of their long-awaited debut LP Pleasure. Though no formal announcement of their break-up ever appeared, the record was the group's last. Pleasure (which featured Thomas Dolby as a guest musician on synthesizer) was re-released in expanded editions over the next several decades, and members of the band stayed active in music with projects like Sexbeat and synth pop band the Fallout Club, which also featured Dolby before he found fame as a solo artist. ~ Jason Ankeny & Fred Thomas, Rovi