The Contractions - 1980 (2024)

From 1979-1984, the female post-punk trio known as the Contractions not only built a San Francisco following, but they also toured nationally and released a pair of singles and the Something Broke album. With the cooperation of the group's three founding members, and thanks to the live recordings and endeavors of archivist Terry Hammer — this live compilation from two dates at the Mabuhay Gardens comes as a new addition to the group's catalog. Mary Kelley, Deb Hopkins and Kathy Peck all wrote songs on their own, but the musical arrangements were collaborative. "We thought of ourselves as a three-legged chair," Kelley told liner notes writer Bill Kopp. "Always a team. It wasn't The Contractions without the three of us." During their time together, the Contractions opened for a cavalcade of punk and new wave artists: Dead Kennedys, Jim Carroll, Glenn Branca, the Go-Go's, Bush Tetras, Flipper, and even Duran Duran. "People described us as 'musically dangerous,'" said Hopkins. "Years later, I am still meeting women who tell me that they decided to learn an instrument and start a band after seeing us. And that is what I hope our legacy is: empowering females to play music, and to expect to be treated and respected for their music and not treated like sex objects." In addition to the 11 live tracks featured on 1980, the CD also includes three long out-of-print studio recordings.