The Need

The Need is also a 1992 novel by Andrew Neiderman.

---

The Need is a queercore band that originating in Olympia, Washington in the late 1990s.

Formed by Rachel Carns, drums and vocals, and Radio Sloan, guitar and bass guitar, both were veterans of other indie rock bands. Rachel was previously in Kicking Giant, The Fakes, Witchypoo, Slant 6 and Ce Be Barns Band, which Radio had been a member of as well. They made their debut in Olympia, Washington, and, in the summer of 1996, they played at the Dirty Bird Queercore Festival in San Francisco, CA.

The band's first project was Margie Ruskin Stops Time, released in 1996 by Kill Rock Stars, on which The Need provided the music to accompany the words and vocals of Miranda July. Ms. July also performed with the band at the Dirty Bird Festival.

Their music has been described by one critic as "...post structuralist, deconstructive punk rock..." Certainly the band had its own aesthetic, made more apparent by its distinctive art work and posters, created by Rachel, and a willingness to experiment. This, perhaps, lead to their best known creation, The Transfused. In collaboration with Nomy Lamm, the band took the long discarded notion of the rock opera and breathed new life into it. In true DIY style, friends and neighbours helped build sets and audition for parts and The Transfused was mounted at The Capitol Theatre in Olympia in 2000, and eventually travelled to many other cities. If nothing else, the band had managed to revitalize a form of musical presentation no one had taken seriously for decades.

Their last album, recorded in 2000 was prophetically titled The Need is Dead. On this recording they further expanded their range of instrumentation with the addition of synthesizer and samples contributed by Joe Preston of The Melvins, and theremin, played by producer Mike Lastra of Smegma.

After this the band parted ways and Rachel Carns now performs in the band Twin, formally called King Cobra, while Radio Sloan has been in the bands The Circuit Side, Fact or Fiction and Courtney Love's recent all-female backing band The Chelsea. As well, she did a guest stint with LA band Scarling., and played guitar on Le Tigre's 2005 album This Island.

Discography

Albums

• Margie Ruskin Stops Time Miranda July with music by The Need on Kill Rock Stars (1996)

• "Jacky O' Lantern" 7" single on Outpunk (1997)

• The Need CD on Chainsaw Records (1997)

• The Need 10" EP with Joe Preston and DJ Zeena on Up Records (1998)

• KaraNEEDoke double 7" collaborations with Slim Moon, Nomy Lamm, Audrey Marrs, Donna Dresch, Tracy Sawyer (formerly of Heavens to Betsy) and Tamala Poljak (formerly of Longstocking) on Kill Rock Stars

• The Transfused by Nomy Lamm with The Need CD on Yoyo Recordings (2000)

• The Need Is Dead CD on Chainsaw Records (2000)

Compilations

• "Sam" on Destination 7" Ross Records (1996)

• "Crown" on YoYo-a-GoGo - Another Live Record CD/LP Yoyo Recordings (1997)

• "Talk Potty" on La Foresta Della Morte Soundtrack CD Toyo Records (1999)

• "Girl Flavour Gum" on New Women's Music Sampler CD Mr. Lady Records (1999)

• "Vaselina", "Crown", "Majesty" on Homocore Minneapolis: Live & Loud CD Lefty Records (1999)

• "American Woman" on Projector LP Yoyo Recordings (1999)

• "Resurrection", "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown)" on The Structure of Scientific Misconceptions/The System of Scientific Misconstructions compilation CD Toyo Records (2001)

External links

• The Need Webpage circa Aug. 3, 2001 by way of the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
• Review of The Need Is Dead
• Kill Rock Stars

See also

• Rachel Carns
• Radio Sloan
• List of queercore bands