July 10, 2000

The Nation.

11

ARTICLES

SEARCH AND DESTROY

GAY-BAITING IN THE MILITARY

UNDER DONT ASK, DONT TELL
by DOUG IRELAND

n the wake of Lt. Gen. Claudia

Kennedys high-profile sexual
harassment case against another
Army general (who himself had
just been put in charge of investigating sexual harassment!), the
mainstream media have given a substantial amount of coverage to
the appalling rates of sexual harassment of women in the armed
forces. But you would be hard pressed to find in these news reports
any mention of one of the principal spurs to this harassment:
the policy on gays in the military, popularly known as Dont Ask,
Dont Tell.
You cant separate this policy from sexual harassment,
says Michelle Benecke, a former captain of US Army defense
artilleryand a Harvard-trained lawyerwho is the co-founder
and co-director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
(SLDN). A lot of the perception that women in the services are
gay stems from the fact that theyre not sleeping with anyone in
their unit, Benecke says. The Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy
pressures young women into sexual activity with their superiors
by making them subject to the threat of discharge as gay.
The Defense Departments own discharge figures support
Beneckes contention that women are being disproportionately
targeted by the policy: Women accounted for 31 percent of the
Dont Ask, Dont Tell discharges in 1999, even though they are
only 14 percent of the uniformed services. The numbers are most
striking in the Army, where women are only 15 percent of the force
but 35 percent of the gay discharges; in the Air Force, where they
are 18 percent, compared with 37 percent of discharges; and in the
Marines, where women are 6 percent of the Corps but account
for 21 percent of those discharged. Since lesbian-baiting is the
military mans best defense against charges of sexual harassment,
these numbers help explain why many women in the military are
afraid to report such conduct, let alone tell their superiors about
antigay harassment.
Nicole B. was 21 when she joined the Navy in 1995 and became
a second-class petty officer in the weather-forecasting service.

At a Navy forecasting school in

Biloxi, Mississippi, her Marine
instructor in oceanography was
constantly making antigay jokes.
Rumors had circulated that I was
gay, and this instructor would
make cracks about dikes in the water and turn to me saying,
Dont get too excited about the word. Things got worse when
Nicole was sent to a small base in Texas after she told her chief
about the antigay harassment of a male sailor friend in her unit,
who was constantly being baited as a fag,a woman,a guy who
wears makeup. Then someone wrote a message on my car that
said, You suck dick and eat pussy, Nicole says. I was terrified and fearful for my life. It just got worse, and I cried every
day. After Nicole finally reported the harassment to her chief,
she says, He told me, I just want to reach over and slap your
face. Since three superior officers had harassed Nicole, she
didnt feel there was anybody among my chiefs whod back me
up if I was assaulted. I loved the Navy, but its so difficult when
you have to hide, make up a boyfriend, censor your social conversation. Then I got into a relationship, and thats when it became clear to me that I wasnt going to be able to deal with this,
that I had to give it up. That was very hard. Nicole got in touch
with SLDN, which helped her write a coming-out letter to her
commanding officer. She was discharged last year, but says, I
still miss the NavyIm encouraging my little nephew to become a Navy pilot.
Petty Officer Nicole B.s experiences typify the ways in which
even gays who try to be discreet have been increasingly subject
to harassment and expulsion under the current policy. Not only
has the policyits correct name is Dont Ask, Dont Tell,
Dont Harass, Dont Pursuefailed to diminish discharges of
gay servicemembers; it has actually increased them, from 617 in
1994 to 1,034 in 1999, at a cost of more than $161 million (based
on General Accounting Office figures) in training replacements
for those discharged. And the policy has spurred soaring rates of
verbal abuse and physical violence, even murder.

12

The Nation.

July 10, 2000

his disastrous policy was born out of Bill Clintons refusal to

with a baseball bat by a fellow soldier. Winchell, who had been
honor his 1992 campaign pledge to let gays serve openly in
asleep in his cot, was left with his skull shattered like an egguniform. In large part because of his own reputation as a draft
shell, according to an Army investigator, his eyes black and
dodger, Clinton knuckled under to pressure from the generals
swollen shut, his brains oozing from his head. Winchell had conand admirals and their allies in Congress, thus betraying the
fided to two friends that he was afraid to report the escalating
principle of civilian control of the military and sending a signal
daily harassment that led to his murder, because he would risk
to the Pentagon crowd that he could be rolled (as ever-increasing
being kicked out of the Army.
military-procurement budgets in his two terms have shown).
It was five months after Private Winchells murder when DeMoreover, Clintons capitulation forced the gay movement to
fense Secretary William Cohen finally ordered the IG survey of
fight on a battleground not of its own choosing. The 1993 gayantigay harassment throughout the armed services. But even now,
run Campaign for Military Service not only strained the movethe Army is refusing to release its IGs report on the antigay climents limited resources; the losing effort was also a PR disaster
mate of terror that reigned at Fort Campbell under its commander,
for gay politics that undercut the chance to pass the critically imMaj. Gen. Robert Clark. We provided a lot of evidence of antigay
portant Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) while
harassment there and how it was tolerated by superior officers,
Democrats still controlled the Congress.
says SLDNs Benecke.
Many left-wing gays were uncomfortable at seeing precious
energies squandered in combat for the right to serve in a military
o take just two examples: Fort Campbell Pvt. Javier Torres
they disdained and distrusted. But once the issue was joined, the
gave a sworn statement to SLDN that, just months after Private
movement had no choice but to confront the tidal wave of slurs
Winchell was murdered, his units staff sergeant led them on
against same-sexers deployed by four-star homophobes like Colin
a run singing in cadence, Faggot, faggot, down the street/
Powell and bigoted politicians like Senate Armed Services CommitShot him, shot him, till he retreats. Another Fort Campbell
tee chairman Sam Nunn. And
sergeant, assigned to brief a
all the more so because military
The Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy pressures unit on the Dont Ask, Dont
homophobia is also a class isTell policy, repeatedly called
women into sexual activity by making them the training session the fag
sue: The overwhelming majority of its victims are young
briefing and referred to gay
subject to the threat of discharge as gay.
recruits who joined up to get
soldiers as fags.
an education or career, lured by the bright promises of flashy ad
We asked the IG conducting the Fort Campbell investigacampaigns and aggressive high school recruiting, often before
tion, How can servicemembers contact you? and he told us to
they admit to themselves theyre gay.
our faces that he believed that he was obliged to turn in as gay
Even the Department of Defense itself has now been forced
any servicemember who said he was a victim of antigay harassto admit that harassment of uniformed gays remains widespread.
ment, says Benecke. Although the IG report on Fort Campbell
In March the DoD Inspector General released a survey of 71,570
was due to be released on May 1, the Army has postponed giving
active-duty servicemembers revealing that 80 percent of those
the report to the Secretary of the Army until July 1conveniently
who filled out questionnaires reported hearing offensive antiafter General Clarks June 9 advancement to a prestigious Pentagay remarks. Nearly 10 percent said they had witnessed physical
gon post as Vice Director (J3) of Plans and Operations for the Joint
assault. Significant numbers also reported offensive or hostile
Chiefs of Staff. As Benecke points out, This is the man who algestures, threats or intimidation, graffiti, vandalism, limiting
lowed the harassment at Fort Campbell to exist, and to continue
or denying training and/or career opportunities, and disciplinary
even after Private Winchells murder. As of February 20, twenty
actions or punishment not of the bigots but of their victims (for
soldiers at Fort Campbell have come out because of their fear.
example, being punished for something when others were not).
Clark deserves to be dismissed. Retaining Clark in uniformand
Most telling, of those who said their cited situation was witeven rewarding himsends a clear signal that servicemembers
nessed by someone senior to either the person being harassed or
can continue to harass with impunity.
the harasser, 73 percent said the senior person did nothing to
Thats certainly the impression that Clinton Administration
immediately stop the harassment.
policy has left with many military commanders and their subIf the Clinton Administration had really been serious about
ordinates. Not until March 1997 did the DoD get around to isprotecting gays in the military, the Pentagon would have consuing Guidelines for Investigating Threats Against Service
ducted such a survey long ago. That it happened at all was due to
Members Based on Alleged Homosexuality, by Under Secretary
two things: increased pressure from SLDN, which has docuof Defense Edwin Dorn, designed to implement the 1993 Dont
mented rising harassment and discrimination in a series of meticHarass, Dont Pursue policy. But SLDN forced the Pentagon
ulous annual reports for the past six years; and the particularly
to admit in April 1998 that it had never distributed the guidegrisly antigay murder of a soldier at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on
lines to the field. And it was not until after Private Winchells
July 5, 1999.
murder fifteen months later that the Dorn report was finally
Pvt. Barry Winchell was only 21 when, after enduring four
distributed. In the IG harassment survey this past March, 57 permonths of verbal and physical assault, he was bludgeoned to death
cent of respondents said they had received no training on the
policy; of the 54 percent who claimed they understood it, only
26 percent were able to answer the three most basic questions
Doug Ireland writes frequently on politics for The Nation. Research support
was provided by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute.
about it.

14

The Nation.

he new policy is worse than the old, much worse, says

Professor Janet Halley of Harvard Law School, who last
year published Dont: A Readers Guide to the Militarys
Anti-Gay Policy (Duke). Under the old policy, you could
be discharged if it was found out you had a homosexual
orientation. The new policy says you can be discharged if you
have manifested a propensity to engage in homosexual acts.
Propensity is judged by conduct, but that can mean anything
from having a Melissa Etheridge poster on your wall to wearing
short hair and a thick, black watchband to refusing to have sex
with a man, she says, citing real examples from discharge cases.
Moreover, Halley says, to escape expulsion you have to prove
that you have no propensity, so the only defense is an identity
defense, a status defenseyou have to prove youre straight. And
the judgment about propensity is an entirely subjective one,
which means treatment of gay military personnel varies greatly
from command to command.
That was the experience of Petty Officer First Class Larry
Glover, who was discharged February 25 from the Navy after
fifteen years for being gay: I went from two commands that
were not too bad to one that was pure hell, he says. Like so
many others, Glover says he didnt figure out that I was gay
until Id been in the Navy for three yearsI had fought it up until
then. For Glover, joining one of the uniformed branches was
an escape route from both a stunted economic situation and
from a small town in East Tennessee in the middle of the Bible
Beltfor me, it was a way of getting out to see the world. Glover
has earned ten medalsI rattle when I walk, he chuckles.
He even has a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for
having risked his life to save a $77 million plane from going over
the side of an aircraft carrier in high seas.
In his first two commands, Glover was eventually accepted
by the sailors he worked withOnce I told them, Yes, Im gay,
so what? the issue went away. But on his last shipboard posting,
the antigay atmosphere was particularly virulent. Glover found himself having to stand up for younger sailors who were being harassed
as gay: It was my job as a person in a leadership position. I put
myself on the line every day. I witnessed spray-painting of the word
fag, destruction of private property or of uniforms in lockers
things like filling the lock with glue so sailors couldnt get to their
uniforms, which caused them to be late, which got them punished.
I witnessed chief petty officers using terms like the little fag, the
little butt-bandit, ball breath. One kid had a complete nervous
breakdownI took him off the ship crying. Glovers attempts to
protect younger sailors led to his being threatened with negative

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July 10, 2000

performance evaluations. By this time he was in a relationship, and

the effects of harassment and the pressure to be closeted limits
your compatibility with your partner; the job just wasnt worth what
I was putting in. A friend high up in the military that Id met at a gay
bar told me about SLDN and gave me their number. They helped
me write my coming-out letter to my commander. The day I heard
they were going to process my discharge papers, I put a rainbow
sticker on my locker. Glover, who had to give up $850,000 in pay
and retirement benefits when he chose to stop hiding, now says,
Im distraught with the Defense Department and government in
general, adding, Weve got to fix this policywe just have to.

ost of Americas major NATO allies now allow gays to serve

openly in the military, including France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada. Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Israel do as well. Britain was
forced last fall by the European Court of Human Rights to end
its military ban on gays and has now embraced them, even inviting
gay soldiers who had been discharged to apply for reinstatement.
Dr. David Segal, who directs the University of Marylands Center
for Research on Military Organizationwhich studies comparative military institutionssays that there is no evidence from any
country weve looked at that lifting the ban on gays impacts negatively on either unit cohesion or performance. He adds, Theres
no question that the direction of social change will eventually deal
with sexual orientation as irrelevant in terms of the military.
The Pentagons brass hats know this is true. Aaron Belkin,
who directs the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the
Military at the University of California, Santa Barbara, points out
that gay discharges always go down in wartime. During the Korean
and Vietnam wars there were about half as many such discharges
as in peacetime. In World War II the discharge rate was substantially lower than in the postwar period. In the Persian Gulf War,
the military had a stop-loss order that suspended gay expulsions.
What the Pentagon is saying is, when unit cohesion is most important and our survival is at stake, well keep them in. There is
no intellectually honest case to be made that gays undermine cohesion in the military. Quite the reverse: The current US policy
saps unit cohesion by subjecting gay servicemembers to careerending blackmail.
The hypocrisy of the Pentagons attitude is underscored by one of
the Armys first African-American generals, Maj. Gen. Vance Coleman, who retired in 1989: Gays have been serving honorably in the
military ever since it existed. Its never a problem until the leadership makes it one. Coleman compares the arguments against openly serving gays to those deployed against lifting the ban on racial
segregation in the armed forces: Its the same thing. Close your
eyes, sit in a room and listen to the generals discussionsyou hear
the same reasons. The right of gay people to serve openly is, Coleman says, a legitimate civil rights and human rights question. It
shouldnt even be an issue.
However, given the current conservative composition of our
judiciary, it is unlikely that court challenges to the militarys antigay policy will prevail in the foreseeable future. The Supreme Court
has declined to hear five cases challenging the constitutionality of
Dont Ask, Dont Tell, and all four of the eleven federal circuit
courts in which the policy has so far been challenged have upheld
it. That kicks the ball back into the political arena.

July 10, 2000

The Nation.

15

n the most recent Gallup poll on the question, in January, 41 persays that whats missing is the investigative component to identify
cent of Americans said gays should be allowed to serve openly;
those who engage in or tolerate harassment, and he wants Clinton to
38 percentmost of whom wrongly believe the Dont Ask, Dont
issue an executive order for an investigation that would root out vioTell policy is a tolerant onesaid gays should be able to serve
lations of the Dont Ask, Dont Harass and Dont Pursue sections of
under the current policy; while only 17 percent think gays should
the policy and hold military leadership accountable. In May he and
not be able to serve under any circumstances.
Senator Max Cleland, a paraplegic veteran from Georgia, sent a tart
The issue flared into the news briefly during the presidential priletter to Defense Secretary Cohen pointing up the failure to implemary campaigns. Bill Bradley, who in 1993 had voted as a senator
ment antiharassment training in the armed forces in a meaningful way.
for outright repeal of the military ban before Clinton signed Dont
Even Representative Barney Frank, one of the Administrations
Ask, Dont Tell into law, reiterated his position in his campaign last
most visible defenders, says he is deeply disappointed with the way
September and said hed expect the military to follow his policy.
Bill Cohen has handled the harassment issue. On June 7 Frank
Until then, Al Gore had said only that hed implement Dont Ask,
and thirty colleagues (including minority leader Dick Gephardt
Dont Tell with more compassion.
and two GOPersConnie Morella and Mark Foley) sent an even
But competing with Bradley for the gay vote, in December Gore
stronger letter to Cohen calling the Pentagons failure to curb harassfinally came out against Dont Ask, Dont Tell and said he would
ment disgraceful; denouncing the promotion of General Clark,
lift the ban entirely and make
the Fort Campbell commander;
this a litmus test for his apCongressional supporters of lifting entirely attacking the Navy and Air
pointees to the Joint Chiefs
Force for trying to recoup trainthe ban on open gays in the military are
of Staff (after the Republicans
ing costs from servicemembers
jumped on him for that last pessimistic about positive legislative change. discharged as gay, even though
statement, Gore backpedaled
this violates the DoDs own
somewhat, saying there would be no political opinion test for his
policy; and asking for a White House meeting. To date, neither the
military appointees). Even President Clinton got around in DecemKerry/Cleland nor the Frank et al. letters have received anything
ber to admitting that the current policy was out of whack (an unmore than a well get back to you acknowledgment.
fortunate locution that led to a spate of raunchy jokes by late-night
TV comedians). On the GOP side, George Bush declared in the prioming to grips with ones homosexuality when already in uniform
mary debates that Im a Dont Ask, Dont Tell man, while John
is a terrifying experience. The Pentagon has to be forced to take
McCain likewise supported the current policy because its working.
seriously its obligation to provide comprehensive antiharassment
But, of course, it isnt, as the rising discharge rates and the DoDs
training (the training materials are thoroughly confused); to
own harassment statistics show. Moreover, the Dont Ask and Dont
provide a safe way in which victims can report harassment withPursue elements of the current policy are continually violated by
out fear of losing their careers; and to punish not only harassers but
commanders, investigating officers and even legal personnel. SLDN,
those commanders who tolerate harassment (not a single one has
in its March annual report, Conduct Unbecoming, documented
been disciplined). Until then, SLDN is the gay servicemembers
194 Dont Ask violations from February 1999 to February 2000, a
only protection.
20 percent increase from the preceding year and the sixth consecuIts amazing how much this small legal-aid group has accomtive increase since the policy began. In the same period the SLDN
plished already. Founded in 1993 on a shoestring, SLDNwhich has
report also detailed 470 Dont Pursue violations, a 34 percent inalready handled 2,300 casesis today struggling along on a $1.4 milcrease. This year, there was an antigay witch hunt at the Defense
lion budget and desperately seeking additional funds for more legal
Language Institute in Monterey, California, which ensnared fourteen
staff to handle the soaring number of harassment complaints. Its Surenlisted personnel, mostly female. And at the beginning of June,
vival Guide is the only document that tells military gays how to cope
SLDN forced the Navy to admit that for the past two years it has been
with the current policy and what their rights are (the DoD provides no
sending undercover agents into five Washington, DC, gay bars and
such material). Jeff Cleghorn, a retired major in US Army military innightclubs to seek out patrons who are in the military. The Navy
telligence who got a law degree after he left the service in 1996, is one
claims its only going after illegal drug use, but SLDNs Benecke
of SLDNs legal-aid intake staff; he says that the organizations clients
calls this a ruseour information shows theyre only targeting gay
are mostly young people concerned about, if not their physical wellestablishments.
being, then their emotional well-being. SLDN counsels active targets
Congressional supporters of lifting entirely the ban on open gays
of investigation on what they can do to minimize the risk of those
in the military are deeply pessimistic about any positive legislative
investigations being either initiated or expanded, Cleghorn says. If
changes. This Congress is not going to overhaul this policy, declares
theres harassment or physical threats, we contact base commanders
Representative Marty Meehan, the liberal Massachusetts Democrat
and legal officers and remind them of the investigative limits in the
who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the
current policy. The group has just under 200 open cases at any one
ranking member of its subcommittee on personnel. Meehan says that
timebut the number is growing. And theres no question that SLDN
theres no way even to have hearings on harassment nowwed go
has saved lives. Just the other day I had a call from a kid at a naval
backward, not forward. On the Senate side, another longtime oppobase in Florida whod been assaulted physically by several sailors,
nent of the ban, Massachusettss John Kerry, likewise paints a bleak
says Cleghorn; he was in tears and suicidal. I called the Metropolitan
picture, at least until we [the Democrats] get a majority. About all
Community Church [a gay denomination] in the city he was in to
he and his like-minded colleagues can do at this point, he says, is turn
arrange counseling in a safe space, and contacted the chaplain at
up the heat a notch on the Pentagon and the Administration. Kerry
his base. He survived. We go with whats thereeven if its just

16

July 10, 2000

The Nation.

someone wholl give em a big hug and listen to their problems.

Bill Clinton, Bill Cohen, Al Gore and their lame-duck Administration still have six months to do something to protect kids like that
sailor in Florida. But will they act?

For information or to make a contribution to SLDN: Servicemembers

Legal Defense Network, PO Box 65301, Washington, DC 200355301 (or www.sldn.org). For free, confidential counseling, call
(202) 328-3244.

THE DYKE MUSIC SCENE BLENDS FEMINIST VALUES AND DO IT YOURSELF PUNK CULTURE.

Revenge of the Girl Bands

ANN CVETKOVICH AND GRETCHEN PHILLIPS

Ann Cvetkovich teaches English and womens studies at the University

of Texas. Gretchen Phillips has been recording songs about lesbianism
since 1984 in bands that include Two Nice Girls, Girls in the Nose and
Lord Douglas Phillips.

the Gossip. Backed by Janet Weiss on drums,

Sleater-Kinneys two guitar players, Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein, are simultaneously
girly and tough as they interweave their voices
and guitar lines. I could be demure like/girls
who are soft for/boys who are fearful of/getting an earful/But I gotta rock! they chant in
The Ballad of a Ladyman from their most recent CD, All Hands on the Bad One (Kill Rock
Stars). Wearing mens coveralls and drawing on
classic rock posturing, the Butchies are more
unequivocally lesbian, with songs like The Galaxy Is Gay and
Sex (im a lesbian), and their declaration that being out is not
done to prove anything to the straight world, it is to prove something to each other. The Gossip riffs on Southern rock, with a
singer in lingerie and a beehive do flanked by an androgynous
go-go dancer. In New York the Gossip were joined onstage by
many eager girls from the audience as well as members of the
other bands.
This scene has brought back a sense of urgency to music. Its
not like older male managers and cynical record-company execs
are sitting down together to say, OK, its Sleater-Kinneys turn
to be hot hot hot. No, this is success of their own making, based
on touring regularly, recording on their own labels and playing
at the local coffeehouse. And they are explicitly encouraging
other girls to give music and self-expression a try.
In 1996 Kaia Wilson of the Butchies and her girlfriend, visual
artist Tammy Rae Carland, founded Mr. Lady, a record label and
music and video distribution company. Adapting the Sisterhood Is Powerful logo for the cover, their compilation The New
Womens Music Sampler, which features the Butchies, Tribe 8,
the Need, Sarah Dougher and others, is reminiscent of seventies
womens-music compilations by independent labels like Olivia
Records, which helped launch the careers of such lesbian music
icons as Cris Williamson.
Mr. Ladys lineup also includes Le Tigre, the new band formed
by Kathleen Hanna of riot grrrl fame, along with Johanna Fateman and video artist Sadie Benning. In 1998 Hanna took a break
from live performance because she was burned out on the unrealistic expectations generated by the riot grrrl scene, but she
returns committed to punk and feminism for the long haul. Sure,
I thought about giving up sometimes. But then I think about those
feminists in the seventies. They created phrases like sexual harassment and domestic violence. They started rape crisis centers
WES BEDROSIAN

t a moment when gay and lesbian politics

can seem to be dominated by Millennium
Marches and mainstream family values, the
current dyke music scene offers a welcome
alternative. Far from the frenzy of corporate
sponsorship, girls with guitars are writing smart
songs about sex, politics and their inner lives
and theyre not afraid to make the music loud.
While teen pop stars Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera dominate the airwaves, indie artists
Sleater-Kinney grace many critics top ten lists,
the most visible of a rising tide of alternative girl bands whose
devoted followers are not just consumers but makers of culture
in their own right.
This scenes earliest roots are in the seventies, when the first
wave of independent lesbian music labels emerged. More recently, in the early nineties, dyke-owned Chainsaw and Candyass, as
well as Kill Rock Stars and K Recordsall based in the Pacific
Northwestreleased a slew of noisy albums by girls proclaiming
their love for other girls. This movement got dubbed riot grrrl,
and, with Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill as its unofficial, and
sometimes reluctant, spokeswoman, the message of Revolution
Girl Style Now! caught the attention of the media. Suddenly you
heard more girls on the radio, and Sarah McLachlans Lilith Fair
festival became the womans Lollapalooza. But it was the more
palatable, less political artists such as Jewel and Alanis Morissette
who made it big, as well as lesbians like k.d. lang and Melissa
Etheridge who came out after they were famous.
Today, although the pendulum of mainstream rock journalism
has swung away from the highly touted and self-congratulatory
year of women in rock, girl bands continue to make raucous
and innovative music. Queercore bands like San Franciscos
Tribe 8, whose rallying cries are Castrating Bitches Unite and
Dont Leave a Stump, It Can Be Re-attached, mingle hardcore
punk sounds with queer politics. Drawing on the riot grrrl tradition, Sleater-Kinney, based in the Pacific Northwest and hailed
by Robert Christgau as the worlds greatest rock band, played
to sold-out crowds in New York City recently, along with Durham, North Carolinas the Butchies and Olympia, Washingtons