SLAVES TO THE UNDERGROUND

The radical-feminist band No Exits rocks Seattle with its profane lyrics and (em)power(ment) chords. When the ladies aren't playing onstage, then they're not playing around, meting out vigilante justice to porn peddlers and accused rapists. But things are less than harmonious between the group's two co-founders. Frontwoman/warrior princess Suzy believes the music is a means to a political end in combating sexism and oppression. She doesn't see the irony in linking No Exits' extremist tactics to an organization named Stop the Violence. Her lover and guitarist Shelly, meanwhile, only feels truly fulfilled when performing songs for music's sake, and realizes that she's still in tune with her former boyfriend, the don't-label-me cartoonist Jimmy. The incompatible trio makes up a lively and quirky Gen-X romantic triangle set inside the post-grunge Seattle club scene, with its leaden skies, 'zines, riot grrls, and the godlike presence of Microsoft. Only one Nirvana reference, honest! – Charles Cassady