About L7
L7 is an American all-female rock band founded in Los Angeles, California, first active from 1985 to 2001 and re-formed in 2014. Their longest standing lineup consists of Suzi Gardner , Donita Sparks , Jennifer Finch , and Dee Plakas . L7 has released seven studio albums and has toured widely in the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, and South America. "Pretend We're Dead" was heavily played on US alternative radio and entered the top 10 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart in 1992.
Due to their sound and image, L7 is often associated with the grunge movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and as an all-female band, L7 have, at times, been linked to riot grrrl; although they preceded and are outliers of both the grunge and riot grrrl movements. L7 have been supportive of political causes, and formed Rock for Choice in 1991. A documentary film about the band, L7: Pretend We're Dead, premiered in 2016.
L7 were formed by Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner in 1985. Both artists were active in the Art punk community of Echo Park and had met in 1984 through mutual contacts at the cultural hub of the LA Weekly. Of their meeting and on hearing Gardner play a tape of her songs in progress, Sparks described it as "one of the happiest days of my life" with a clear synchronicity in the music they were each interested in creating. At the time, Gardner was also active as a poet. A year prior, Gardner had performed backing vocals on the college radio hit "Slip It In" by Black Flag. Gardner and Sparks began performing regularly in Los Angeles at punk and metal venues along with a revolving list of supporting musicians in the early years.
The punk rock duo brought Jennifer Finch on board as bass guitarist and Roy Koutsky on drums. Finch, with the strongest Californian roots of the four, connected the band with an even wider network, including Brett Gurewitz of Epitaph Records where the band recorded their first demo. Their eponymous debut album, described as "intense, energetic" and "fast straightforward punk music" was released by Epitaph Records in 1987. L7 reported challenges in the early years with finding a suitable, stable drummer. Shortly after the release of L7, Koutsky quit the band and was replaced by Anne Anderson. Subsequently, Anderson left at the end of the touring cycle for the L7 record, and Demetra "Dee" Plakas was recruited by the band in late 1989 which completed the band's first stabilized lineup as an all-female band.
The band released in 1989 as the Sub Pop Single of the Month. L7 reportedly spent a short time in Seattle in the early 1990s. L7's next album, Smell the Magic, was released in 1990 on Sub Pop and earned a four star review by Rolling Stone who stated "With Donita Sparks' and Suzi Gardner's twin lockstep guitars racing down the highway to hell, Smell the Magic was one of Sub Pop's finest hours." L7 traveled to England and opened for Nirvana on several dates in 1990.
In August 1991, L7 performed at the International Pop Underground Convention held in Olympia, Washington. The IPU was organized around a fiercely independent DIY ethic, with L7 the only band with major label representation, having recently signed with Slash Records .
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