Kill Rock Stars' Killer History

Kill Rock Stars has been one of the most influential, successful, and important American independent record labels of the last 20 years. Championing "queer-positive, feminist, and artist-friendly" practices, the label was born in Olympia, Washington, in 1991, right at beginning of the riot grrrl movement, and, over the years, they've released almost 500 records.

From Bikini Kill at the beginning, to their latest signing, wordy lo-fi "post-power-pop" combo The Thermals, Kill Rock Stars have crossed paths with an astonishing array of artists, including, but not limited to: The Decemberists, Sleater-Kinney, Elliott Smith, Marnie Stern, Erase Errata, Xiu Xiu, Deerhoof, The Gossip, and, even, filmmaker/performance-artist/author Miranda July (pictured), whose two LPs for KRS, 1997's 10 Million Hours a Mile and 1998's The Binet-Simon Test, are two of the label's more disturbing releases.

I recently felt the yen to quantify Kill Rock Stars' mighty back-catalogue into a handy rundown, knocking up a Top 10 Kill Rock Stars albums list for your perusin' pleasure. Enjoy, kids.

Photo © [RJ Shaughnessy]