Back in the mid-’90s teenage all-girl quartet Fluffy flared briefly as Britain’s riposte to groups like Hole and L7 and Riot Grrrl bands like Bikini Kill.
Their aggressive punk assault was a refreshing backlash against the Britpop era, and intended as exactly that, capitalising on the timeless appeal of girls with guitars.
Fluffy were formed in London by art school students Amanda Rootes and Angie Adams in late 1994, inspired by their love of the Pistols, the Stooges and the Dolls.
With the two classmates on vocals and drums respectively, the group was completed by another uni student, Helen Storer on bass (replacing Pandora Ormsby-Gore), and schoolgirl guitarist Bridget Jones – joining as soon as she finished her A-levels and began rehearsals in Rootes’ living room.
They cut their teeth playing gigs at underground fetish balls, parties and clubs like Torture Garden and Submission, performing in tiny slip dresses and giving slavering male music journalists soundbites such as: “Young girls shouldn’t be afraid to look feminine.”
Rootes added: “So many girls are afraid to be girls. Apart from Courtney Love, who’s really feminine and uses her sexuality and is a strong woman. I don’t think women should dress like boys.
“That’s what’s great about PJ Harvey. She was boyish and now she’s gone really glam. She looks amazing and she’s become an icon: a real woman.”
The group’s first singles, Hypersonic (extolling the joys of a popular brand of vibrator) and Husband (about a pushy boyfriend), were released during 1995 on Parkway Records, a label formed by their PR team, Savidge & Best.
Moving to a major label, Fluffy gained notoriety for their music, appearance and outspoken comments, performing on the NME’s annual Bratbus tour in 1996 alongside The Bluetones, The Cardigans and Heavy Stereo.
Debut album Black Eye was filled with fiery songs about sex and abuse, delivered over aggressive pop-punk guitars in Rootes’ trademark sneer.
The title track Black Eye was inspired by her violent father (or so she said); Scream dealt with rape; Dirty Old Bird was about spousal abuse; and Cheap was about a girl’s feelings of worthlessness after losing her virginity. Other songs dealt with hangovers (Technicolour Yawn), drug abuse (Psychofudge) and obnoxious male musicians (Too Famous).
The album was recorded with punk producer Bill Price (Pistols, Clash) and released in 1996, the year they supported The Foo Fighters and The Sex Pistols, on their comeback tour at Finsbury Park and in Japan.
Floria Sigismondi shot the music video for Black Eye in New Orleans, with MTV documenting the process. But despite shining brightly for a couple of years, Fluffy finally split in 1998 when Rootes and Storer moved to Los Angeles.
Rootes said the band had always felt more comfortable there because the British press “can’t handle the concept of a sexually frank all-girl band.”
She went on to form a new band called Harlow, while Storer played bass with various artists and sang on the great Twilight Singers album She Loves You alongside Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli. Adams and Jones stayed in London and formed another all-female band called Darling.