The Agit Reader

Girl Trouble
Hit It or Quit It

January 28th, 2014  |  by Dorian S. Ham

Girl Trouble, Hit It or Quit ItWhile some may be growing weary of reissue mania, one undeniable fact is that now people have to dig a little deeper. As a result, forgotten or overlooked bands are getting their place in the sun and conventional wisdom gets a rewrite. The latest subjects of the resurrection nation are garage-punk band Girl Trouble. The reason for the season is the 25th anniversary of their debut album, Hit It or Quit It.

Girl Trouble formed in 1984 in Tacoma, Washington, with brother and sister Kahuna (guitar) and Bon Von Wheelie (drums), high school friend Dale Phillips (bass), and Kurt P. Kendall (vocals/saxophone) from Spokane. They came together in the classic way: “Hey, we have some instruments, time and a garage… wanna form a band?” After a few singles, they released Hit It or Quit It in 1988, a joint release by K Records and Sub Pop. It was, in fact, the first full-length record by a band ever released by Sub Pop. While the tale of Sub Pop is oft repeated, this little factoid seems to have slipped the official record. However, the no-frills garage rock lines up perfectly with the aesthetics and philosophy of the label’s early days so it makes sense that they partnered with K Records on the release.

For the reissue of Hit It or Quit It, K has played it pretty straight, simply adding two additional songs to the album’s tracklist and calling it a day. Truth be told, anything else would be overkill as the record is stunningly straightforward, with a minimum of frills. There is an overdubbed guitar here and there, a touch of production here and a snatch of movie dialogue spliced in, but that’s it. It’s the sound of four people playing in a room with the sole purpose of making the listener dance. In the paraphrased words of Kendall, there’s plenty of big boss beat on this record. The guitars, swoop, attack and dance with reckless abandon and the bass is solid as a frozen lake. And Kendall’s vocals are the perfect anchor for the proceedings. The songs are immediate as early rock & roll 45s, with a whisper of rockabilly a la (American) X and a sense of uncontrollable fun. It’s the type of record where you have to imagine that every single song would slay live. If the debut album is the purest distillation of a band, then this seems like the perfect snapshot of Girl Trouble.

Considering what else was going on at the time, it’s maybe not that surprising that Girl Trouble somehow flew under the radar. There’s a throwback element that must have seemed even more pronounced then, but they were bringing nothing but heat. Rock was leaning a little tougher and Girl Trouble seemed a bit more playful. Hit It or Quit It was the best found secret for those who got it, and the rest of the word is only now playing catch up. But thankfully Girl Trouble never stopped and is still rocking stages with the same four members still in tow. Hopefully this will ignite a much-deserved revival.

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