Têtes Noires

Têtes Noires
Place of origin	United States of America
Genres	punk rock

Têtes Noires
Left to right, Holt, Alexander, Kayon, Frucci, Bartell and Gage backstage at First Avenue. Photo by Catherine Settanni. Left to right, Holt, Alexander, Kayon, Frucci, Bartell and Gage backstage at First Avenue. Photo by Catherine Settanni.
Background information
Origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Genres	Rock, alternative rock, punk rock, folk rock
Years active	1982—1998
Labels	Rapunzel, Rounder
Past members	Polly Alexander Cynthia Bartell Angela Frucci Camille Gage Jennifer Holt Renée Kayon Chris Little

Têtes Noires was the first all-female rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, best known for their "casually mocking" feminist lyrics and for three- and sometimes up to six-part vocal harmonies. Founded by former Miss South Dakota Jennifer Holt, which received positive reviews nationally.) Acceptance and critical acclaim Gage, Holt, and Kayon did lead vocals.

Touring

Gage said about their first show in 1983 at the Pride Festival in Loring Park, "What we were doing was very unusual. The music was unusual. What was frustrating is that you reach a point where you want people to listen to the music and get past the novelty aspect and pay attention, which I think people do relatively quickly".

The band toured for five years, playing CBGB, Folk City and the Walker Art Center. They played The Bottom Line twice in 1985, once opening for Richard Thompson. At the time, Minneapolis had a healthy indie music scene that included Prince, The Replacements and, booking acts from across the world, the nightclub First Avenue where the band played about 10 times from 1984 through 1986.

Recordings and critical reaction

Critics loved all three albums, and more universally applauded their first two, both self-produced on their own indie label, Rapunzel. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Holt explained the addition of a drummer, "the feeling was our music wasn't weird enough to get art grants and yet without a drummer it wasn't accessible enough to a lot of people". Holt said of their song "Bless Me", an "irreverent" look at religious confession, "it's just in fun for us, and that's kind of the way we are ... we like to poke fun at American institutions". A review for iTunes said it, "mixed folk and choral influences with the kind of lighter new wave sound of Blondie and the B-52's" and that:

Têtes Noires (1985). Lucky Girl. YouTube (Google).

• Têtes Noires (1985). Tetes Noirs. First Avenue/7th St. Entry via YouTube (Google).