the easy (and most obvious) answer would be "a band comprised solely of mia zapata (vocals), matt dresdner (bass), steve moriarty (drums), and joe spleen (guitar)."

but it's not as simple as that.

the gits, to me, are one of the most amazing bands i've ever heard. (i know that sounds cheesy-- it's cheesy as hell! but then again, a little cheese never hurt anyone!!) their music, complemented by mia's hauntingly beautiful voice and brutally honest lyrics, has helped me through a lot of shit.

the gits' music (which i feel is beyond most descriptions) can be generalized as aggressive grunge/punk rock. but instead of falling into the category of trite by howling out "slutpissgirl"-type self-demeaning "riot grrrl" lyrics, mia shines with messages of hope, a fundamental of life which is often ignored by rock bands in favor of "wallowing in my pit" complaints. she didn't transmit her hopeful messages as the clichè brady bunch sunnydaysmileyface bullshit, but rather through a glimmer in the sand--the proverbial diamond in the rough. she accepts the darkness in the world, and in ourselves, and captures the beauty in pain.

apparantly, mia drank a fair bit.

the band, (which was orignally titled "the snivelling little rat faced gits") was formed at antioch college in ohio during the mid 1980's.

in 1988 they released their first album, "kings and queens". they only pressed 150 copies originally, but recently, it has been re-released on the broken rekids label in both cd and colored vinyl formats. they performed 14 original songs, and 2 covers (iggy and the stooges' "loose" and bessie smith's "graveyard blues")

their second album, "frenching the bully" was released in 1992 on c/z records. it was dedicated "in loving memory of stefanie ann sargent" (she was the guitarist for 7 year bitch). a few new versions of the "kings and queens" songs showed up on the 2nd album, including "kings and queens", "it all dies anyway", "A", and (my personal K&Q fave) "cut my skin it makes me human". and the obligatory awesome cover song was louie diagnole's "here's to your fuck".

their third, posthumously released album, "enter: the conqering chicken", was released in 1994. one of my absolutely favorite songs ever written, "precious blood" appeared on this album. in fact, i'm listening to it as i'm typing this. i find "the drinking song" is quite fun to sing along to, while i'm drinking (orange juice, of course. hi mom!)

i said it was posthumously, because mia zapata was brutally raped and murdered while walking home from a bar at night in 1993. the manner in which she was murdered strangely resembled the attacks her assumed characters dealt with in the songs "spear and magic helmet" and "sign of the crab". the fuckhead(s) who did that to her were never found. WHICH MAKES ME FUCKING MAD!!!

apparantly, it enraged many of her friends and music scene-mates. a large sum of money is currently being offered to anyone who can provide clues leading to the conviction of the misogynist bastard killer(s). a segment on "unsolved mysteries" (a tv show that details real-life unsolved mysteries in hopes that a viewer somewhere will be able to help solve them) was recorded and broadcasted.

the remaining gits (along with julian gibson) formed another band, "the dancing french liberals of '48", and recorded (among other masterpieces) "spit in your eye". with allusions to edgar allan poe's ultimate revenge story "a cask of amontillado", and images of brotherhood-- watching your friend's back, it's a definate threat to he who deserves it!!

joan jett (of the blackhearts fame) played shows with steve, matt, and joe under the moniker "Evil Stig", which is "Gits Live" spelled backwards.

the home alive foundation ( www.homealive.org ) was founded in mia's memory. it teaches self-defense to women. in a society that expects women to be sexy and demure, and discourages self-esteem based on personal and physical strength, it's easy as hell for a pervert or a pedophile to take advantage of us. home alive released a 2-disc cd in 1994 titled "home alive: the art of self-defense" as a fundraiser. many excellent seattle-based bands were featured on it, including the dancing french liberals of '48, the fastbacks, ann and nancy wilson (from heart), green apple quick step, love battery, tribe 8, supersuckers, the posies, 7 year bitch, and the more popular nirvana, soundgarden, and pearl jam. this cd (and all three gits albums, and some dfl '48 stuff) is available for purchase via www.cdnow.com.

go out and buy them. judge for yourself. and if you already have them, power to you!!