Potty Mouth (band)
{{Short description|American punk rock band}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Potty Mouth
| image =Potty Mouth 03 12 2018 -2 (40889788565).jpg
| caption =
| image_size =
| landscape =
| origin = Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
| genre = Pop rock, punk rock, pop punk
| years_active = 2011–2021
| label = Old Flame Records, Marshall Teller Records, Get Better Records
| associated_acts =
| website = {{URL|http://www.pottymouthworld.com}}
| current_members = * Abby Weems
- Ally Einbinder
- Victoria Mandanas
| past_members = * Phoebe Harris
- Ali Donohue
}}
Potty Mouth was an American pop rock band, formed in Western Massachusetts, in 2011 at Smith College. The band's original lineup was Ally Einbinder (bass), Phoebe Harris (lead guitar, vocals), Abby Weems (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), and Victoria Mandanas (drums). Following Harris' (and later Ali Donohue's) departure, Potty Mouth continued as a three-piece, with Abby Weems on lead guitar.
History
Potty Mouth was formed by Ally Einbinder and Phoebe Harris, two Smith College students, in 2011. Einbinder played bass while Harris learned to play the guitar. Another Smith College student, Victoria Mandanas, joined the band to play drums, having played in a punk rock band in high school; Abby Weems, a high school student at the time, also joined to play guitar and sing lead vocals. Like Harris, Weems did not know how to play guitar before joining Potty Mouth. In September 2011, the band recorded four demo tracks. According to Einbinder, Harris thought of the band's name while on the toilet, unaware of the Bratmobile album of the same name.
In 2013, Potty Mouth released their first full-length album, Hell Bent, to positive reviews from critics. In 2015, they released a self-titled EP, which was recorded without Harris, who had departed from the band. The band's tour to promote the EP featured various guest rhythm guitarists. During this time, they made a distribution deal with Alternative Distribution Alliance and gained attention from Atlantic Records. The band continued to tour in 2016, supporting Beach Slang's spring tour. For their 2016 shows, Potty Mouth was joined by guitarist Aurore Ounjian of Mean Creek. In July, the band played at Lollapalooza, their first music festival.
Potty Mouth's second album, SNAFU, was released on March 1, 2019, preceded by two singles: "22" in January and "Starry Eyes" in February.{{Cite web|url=https://diymag.com/2019/02/14/potty-mouth-announce-new-album-snafu-with-video-for-starry-eyes|title=Potty Mouth announce new album 'SNAFU' with video for 'Starry Eyes'|website=Diymag.com|date=14 February 2019 |accessdate=21 September 2020}} The album received significant praise from the critics. Pitchfork's Nina Corcoran awarded the album a 7.2 rating and labelled it, "an arena-sized follow up that sounds like a major-label effort without all the compromises."{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/potty-mouth-snafu/|title=Potty Mouth: SNAFU|website=Pitchfork|language=en|access-date=2019-10-15}} Writing for i-D, Nick Fulton called it "a career-defining moment for the Massachusetts band."{{Cite web|url=https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/xwbgzd/potty-mouth-album-snafu|title=the return of potty mouth's riotous pop-punk|last=Fulton|first=Nick|date=2019-03-12|website=i-D|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}
Potty Mouth announced they had disbanded on October 28, 2021.{{cite web |last1=Rettig |first1=James |title=Potty Mouth Break Up |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2165538/potty-mouth-break-up-final-ep/music/ |website=Stereogum |access-date=28 October 2021 |language=en |date=28 October 2021}} The band's final EP, 1% Happier, was released November 19, 2021.{{cite web |last1=Russell |first1=Scott |title=New Albums to Stream Today |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/new-albums/albums-to-stream-adele-ovlov/ |website=Paste Magazine |access-date=19 November 2021 |language=en |date=19 November 2021}}
Style
Einbinder and Weems have expressed disapproval of the labeling of the band as riot grrrl. Einbinder stated that "Slapping the riot grrrl label on us just because we happen to be women playing a type of music that happens to be reminiscent of another era in time seems like a lazy conflation." Weems speculated that the association may have been due to the low fidelity of their early recordings.
In a Pitchfork review of Hell Bent, Jenn Pelly described Weems's vocals as a "Liz Phair-style monotone", delivering "deceptively simple lyrics". Writing for the Toronto Star, Ben Rayner wrote that Weems "sounds like she's perpetually rolling her eyes at everything and everyone in scorn". Jenn Pelly and Liz Pelly also compare the band's sound to pop-punk and post-punk with vestiges of surf music.
Members
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Final lineup
- Abby Weems – lead vocals, guitar (2011–2021)
- Ally Einbinder – bass (2011–2021)
- Victoria Mandanas – drums, backing vocals (2011–2021)
Final touring member lineup
- Kate Meizner – guitar, backing vocals (2014–2021)
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Former members
- Phoebe Harris – guitar, backing vocals, occasional lead vocals (2011–2014)
- Ali Donohue – guitar, backing vocals (2014)
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Timeline
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Discography
=Studio albums=
=Extended plays=
- Sun Damage (2012)
- Potty Mouth (2015)
- 1% Happier (2021)
=Singles=
- "The Spins" (2013)
- "Black and Studs" (2013)
- "Damage" (2013)
- "Cherry Picking" (2015)
- "Smash Hit" (2016)
- "22" (2019)
- "Starry Eyes" (2019)
- "I Wanna" (2019)
- "Favorite Food" (2019)
- "Let Go" (2021)
- "Contessa Barefoot" (2021)
- "Not Going Anywhere" (2021)
=Live releases=
- The Wild Honey Pie Buzzsession (2019)
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite web |url=http://www.stereogum.com/1382391/band-to-watch-potty-mouth/franchises/band-to-watch/ |first=Liz |last=Pelly |title=Band To Watch: Potty Mouth |publisher=Stereogum |date=June 18, 2013 |accessdate=February 23, 2016}}
{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18417-potty-mouth-hell-bent/ |first=Jenn |last=Pelly |title=Potty Mouth: Hell Bent |publisher=Pitchfork Media |date=September 25, 2013 |accessdate=February 24, 2016}}
{{cite interview |url=https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/premiere-potty-mouths-creeper-weed-video-is-a-vhs-teen-dream |interviewer=Emily Manning |title=premiere: potty mouth's 'creeper weed' video is a vhs teen dream |first1=Ally |last1=Einbinder |first2=Abby |last2=Weems |publisher=i-D |date=November 30, 2015 |accessdate=February 24, 2016}}
{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2015/11/01/the-dream-of-the-90s-is-alive-in-potty-mouth.html |title=The dream of the '90s is alive in Potty Mouth |first=Ben |last=Rayner |publisher=Toronto Star |date=November 1, 2015 |accessdate=February 24, 2016}}
{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/kot/ct-lollapalooza-2016-review-20160731-column.html |title=Lolla's 4-day marathon: At 25, a festival defined, for better or worse, by the youth brigade |first=Greg |last=Kot |work=Chicago Tribune |date=July 31, 2016 |accessdate=August 7, 2016}}
}}
{{Potty Mouth}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:All-female punk bands
Category:American pop rock music groups
Category:American punk rock groups
Category:American feminist musicians
Category:Musical groups established in 2011
Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2021
Category:Rock music groups from California
Category:Rock music groups from Massachusetts