Best Revenge is a queercore punk band from Los Angeles, CA. They were active as a studio and live act from the beginning of 1998 until December 2002. Queercore is a cultural and social movement which arose in the mid 1980s. ... Punk is a contemporary subculture closely associated with punk rock. ... This article is about the largest city in California. ...

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History and Founding

Best Revenge was formed by members Ryan Revenge (vocals/guitar) and KT (bass/vocals) in early 1998. The two were previously in a band called Happybomb while attending college at the University of Southern California. After the breakup of Happybomb, Revenge and KT briefly lost touch with each other, but later reunited to plan a going away party for Happybomb bandmate and celebrated indie comic book artist Jordan Crane. Revenge took the opportunity to pitch to KT his idea of putting together a melodic punk rock band with decidely queer-oriented lyrics inspired by homocore heroes Pansy Division and Extra Fancy, as well as traditional punks The Clash, X, Social Distortion, Ramones and Operation Ivy. He played her a few songs he'd been working on including one that would later become one of the band's anthems, "Punk Rock Fag." KT was in. The University of Southern California (also known as USC, SC, Southern California and Southern Cal), was founded in 1880 and is Californias oldest private research university, and is located in the urban center of Los Angeles, California. ... Jordan Crane (born 8 September 1973), is an American comics creator. ... Pansy Division is a punk band that was a founding example of the queercore genre. ... The Clash was a British rock group that existed from 1976 to 1986. ... X on the cover of their 1997 collection Beyond and Back: The X Anthology. ... Social Distortion (often known as Social D) is an influential punk rock band that formed in the late 1970s and is still together today. ... The Ramones were an influential early punk rock band, believed by many to have been the first and also seen as the fathers of pop-punk. ... Operation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests, coming after Tumbler-Snapper and before Upshot-Knothole. ...

While searching for a rehearsal space and a drummer, the two found both when they answered an ad to rent a garage space in Venice Beach, CA. The renter was Bil Yoelin, later dubbed Bilito Peligro when he joined the band on drums.

Best Revenge's arrival came at a time when the first Los Angeles queercore scene was all but finished. Scene fathers Extra Fancy had disbanded and Club Sucker, the scene's home venue hosted by Vaginal Davis, was nearing the end of its run. Best Revenge, therefore, had to seek out new venues for their music and other like-minded bands with whom they could share stages. One of those venues was the Gauntlet II, a Silver Lake leather bar that had seen better days and needed something new to pull in customers. While the bar wasn't built to be a music venue, in true punk spirit, the bands took charge and made it into a venue. It became the flashpoint for the fledgling second wave of Los Angeles queercore. Vaginal Davis is a punk rock drag queen and an avant-garde performance artist. ... Within the State of New Hampshire in the United States of America: Silver Lake is a lake in the town of Hollis on the southern border of the state. ...

A significant development was the creation of a monthly club night at the Gauntlet II called Freak Show. Created by promoters Eddie Hibbs and Steve Lozier, the club featured one or two bands per night along with various carnival sideshow-inspired acts. Best Revenge headlined the debut night of the club and went on to play it several times during the club's 3-year run. Freak Show created a gathering point which connected many Los Angeles' queer-oriented punk and rock bands to each other. In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction. ...

The gathering scene created the need for a record label to document the music that would probably never find a place in the major label mainstream. Peligro and Revenge responded by starting up Spitshine Records, which went on to put out all of Best Revenge's releases as well as releases by local acts IAMLOVED, $3 Puta, Brian Grillo (of Extra Fancy), Hot-N-Heavy, the Sharpease and a Freak Show compilation CD. In addition, Revenge and Peligro began their own monthly (later, weekly) club at the Gauntlet II. Club Trouble featured both queer and straight punk bands with DJ duties being covered by Peligro, Revenge, and other scenesters as occasional guests.

Best Revenge played its final show on December 6, 2002 at the Gaunlet II. KT, who had left the band one year prior, returned to the lineup for the final performance.

Discography

LPs and EPs

Compilations

A compilation album is a musical album featuring songs or tunes with some common characteristics. ... Note: for Chumbawambas UK-based record label, see Agit-Prop Records. ... A compilation album is a musical album featuring songs or tunes with some common characteristics. ... A compilation album is a musical album featuring songs or tunes with some common characteristics. ... A compilation album is a musical album featuring songs or tunes with some common characteristics. ...

Member Lineups

The band experienced several lineup changes, first spurred by the departure of bassist KT just after the completion of the Starts With You full-length.
Lineup 1, 1998-December 2001:
Ryan Revenge, vocals and guitar
KT, bass and vocals
Bilito Peligro, drums and vocals

Lineup 2, January 2002-May 2002:
Ryan Revenge, vocals and guitar
Bilito Peligro, drums and vocals
Shug, bass and vocals

Lineup 3, May 2002-December 2002:
Ryan Revenge, vocals and guitar
Bilito Peligro, drums and vocals
Glen Livid, bass
Frisky McNicholl, second guitar and vocals

Lineup 4, final show December 6, 2002:
Ryan Revenge, vocals and guitar
Bilito Peligro, drums and vocals
KT, bass and vocals
Frisky McNicholl, second guitar and vocals

Post-Best Revenge

After Best Revenge, Ryan Revenge played with the bands Exit Plan and Terrazzo, and is currently running the queercore music label Spitshine Records. Bilito Peligro played with the Gay-Gays, the all-gay Go-Gos tribute band. The Go-Gos are an all-women band. ...

Best Revenge was featured in the 2005 book Homocore:The Loud and Raucous Rise of Queer Punk by Ken Knox and David Ciminelli.

References

• Ciminelli, David, and Knox, Ken, Homocore: The Loud and Raucous Rise of Queer Punk, Alyson Books, 2005

External links

• Interview with Best Revenge
• Spitshine Records Site
• Best Revenge Site