Babes in Toyland
Kat Bjelland's Minneapolis trio. Bjelland on guitar and the most piercing, accusatory voice of the era; Lori Barbero doing a primal thump on the drums; Michelle Leon then Maureen Herman holding down the bass. Spanking Machine in '90 on Twin/Tone is the introduction, Fontanelle in '92 is the masterpiece — Lee Ranaldo produced, Atlantic distributed through Reprise, and the record still sounds like a threat. Reunited briefly in 2014 but mostly exist as a catalog now. Bjelland's influence on subsequent heavy/screaming/feminist rock is incalculable.
People
Babes in Toyland frontwoman. Kinderwhore aesthetic — baby-doll dresses, smeared lipstick — paired with a scream that could peel paint. Bjelland was Courtney Love's roommate in Minneapolis early on; the influence runs both ways and is a whole separate subject. Solo records as Katastrophy Wife after Babes ended.
Babes in Toyland drummer and tour-life scene lifer in Minneapolis. Founded Spanish Fly Records. Ran a house venue. The beating heart (literally) of the band — Barbero's primal, tom-heavy style is half the reason Fontanelle sounds like it's being recorded inside a chest cavity.