the Muffs

The band started as a collaboration between guitarists Kim Shattuck and Melanie Vammen, both former members of the 1980s all-female hard rock group, The Pandoras.{{cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/6207822/the-muffs/biography |title=The Muffs Biography |author=Deming, Mark |year=2016 |publisher=Billboard |work=Billboard.com |accessdate=February 20, 2016 }} The Muffs started performing and recording after the addition of bassist Ronnie Barnett and drummer Chris Crass.

File:The Muffs - Live Madrid 2009 (3295993087).jpg

The Muffs released their initial 7-inch EPs and singles – "New Love" and "Guilty" (1991), and "I Need You" (1992) – on the West Coast independent labels Sub Pop and Sympathy for the Record Industry. Based on the public and critical response to these early releases, the band was signed to Warner Bros. Records. They established a reputation for "straightforward pop punk".{{cite web |url=http://hhhhappy.com/the-muffs/ |title=The Muffs Are Not Going Away |author=Whiteway, David |year=2014 |publisher=Happy |work=Hhhhappy.com |accessdate=February 21, 2016 }} In the words of musician and critic Scott Miller, the Muffs had "an uncommon flair for simple, catchy melodies" which, he noted approvingly, were always delivered in "Kim Shattuck's almost comically sneering adolescent rasp".{{Cite book |title=Music: What Happened? |last=Miller |first=Scott |author-link=Scott Miller (pop musician) |year=2010 |publisher=125 Books |location=Alameda, CA |isbn=9780615381961 |page=167 }}

The band released their self-titled debut album in 1993. Crass left soon after its release, and drummer Jim Laspesa filled in during the subsequent tour, with Roy McDonald (formerly of Redd Kross) taking over the position permanently in 1994. By the time the tour was over, Vammen had decided to leave the group as well, eventually joining The Leaving Trains.

As a trio of Shattuck, Barnett, and McDonald, The Muffs recorded their second album, Blonder and Blonder. It was released on Warner's subsidiary Reprise Records in 1995.{{AllMusic|class=album|label=Blonder and Blonder|id=r212782}} The album included the college radio hit single, "Sad Tomorrow".

The Muffs contributed a cover of the 1981 Kim Wilde hit "Kids In America" to the soundtrack for the 1995 film Clueless.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,298426,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070907155252/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,298426,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 7, 2007 |title=Music Review: Clueless |author=Smith, Ethan |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=August 18, 1995}} Their version of the song is also used in the music video game Rock Band 2, and was later reissued on The Muffs' 2000 compilation album, Hamburger.

The band made their third album, Happy Birthday to Me, in 1997, and it proved to be their final release through Warner Bros. Moving to independent label Honest Don's Records, they released Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow in 1999. This album includes "I Wish That I Could Be You", featured on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "The Freshman". Also in 1999, the band contributed the song "Pimmel" to the compilation album Short Music for Short People on Fat Wreck Chords.

Towards the end of 1999, the group went on hiatus, and didn't create any new material for five years. Their fifth album, Really Really Happy, was released in 2004. It presents a distinct departure from the Muffs' signature style, with many of the songs sounding softer than previous work, "mellower" and "definitely happier".{{cite web |url=http://www.potatogibberish.com/music_themuffs.htm |title=Kim Shattuck Interview done 10/05/07 |year=2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216183935/http://www.potatogibberish.com/music_themuffs.htm |archive-date=February 16, 2009 |publisher=Potato Gibberish |work=Potatogibberish.com |accessdate=February 21, 2016 }}

In 2012, the Muffs appeared at the "Girls Got Rhythm" fest in St. Paul, Minnesota, along with Ronnie Spector, The 5.6.7.8's, Nikki Corvette and L'Assassins.{{cite web|title=2012 Line Up |url=http://girlsgotrhythmfest.com/page/3/ |publisher=Girlsgotrhythmfest.com |accessdate=2015-08-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010121951/http://girlsgotrhythmfest.com/page/3/ |archive-date=October 10, 2014 }} Shattuck credited former member Laspesa as being instrumental in bringing about the reunion of Barnett, McDonald, and herself.

The Muffs' first album in a decade, Whoop Dee Doo, was released by Burger Records in July 2014.{{Cite journal|last=Lanham |first=Tom |title=The Muffs: Big Whoop |date=August 11, 2014 |journal=Magnet |url=http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2014/08/11/the-muffs-big-whoop |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812132015/http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2014/08/11/the-muffs-big-whoop |archive-date=August 12, 2014 }} Shattuck wrote all 12 songs, and handled production and engineering of almost the entire album.

As conveyed by its self-deprecating title, Whoop Dee Doo was a return to form for the Muffs.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/whoop-dee-doo-mw0002684173 |title=Album Review: 'Whoop Dee Doo' |publisher=AllMusic.com |last=Deming |first=Mark |accessdate=February 21, 2016 }} Its sound is "rough with punk edges", and it keeps a "heavy emphasis on humor and brevity".{{Cite news |last=Martens |first=Todd |date=August 2, 2014 |title=Maturity and the Muffs Don't Mix |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-the-muffs-20140802-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles |accessdate=February 21, 2016 }} A positive review of the album on Pitchfork notes: "They haven't slowed down or softened their attack, or lost their way with tune-construction. Even Shattuck's voice remains barely touched by time... There is scarcely a more consistent band in all of American pop-punk".{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19511-the-muffs-whoop-dee-doo/ |title=The Muffs: 'Whoop Dee Doo' |author=Wolk, Douglas |year=2014 |publisher=Pitchfork Media |work=Pitchfork.com |accessdate=February 21, 2016 }}

Lead singer Kim Shattuck died on October 2, 2019, after a two-year battle with ALS.{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/obituary/8532016/the-muffs-kim-shattuck-dies-at-56|title=The Muffs' Frontwoman Kim Shattuck Dies at 56|website=Billboard.com|accessdate=October 19, 2019}} On October 18, 2019, The Muffs released their final album No Holiday, which comprises tracks spanning the beginnings of the band in 1991 to 2017.{{Cite web|url=http://www.brooklynvegan.com/the-muffs-announce-first-album-in-five-years-no-holiday/|title=The Muffs announce first album in five years, 'No Holiday'|website=BrooklynVegan.com|accessdate=October 19, 2019}}

Punk rock band The Queers covered the Muffs song "End It All" on their 2007 reissue of the album Don't Back Down. British indie band Silver Sun covered the Muffs song "I'm a Dick" on their Too Much, Too Little, Too Late EP. American punk rock band The Huntingtons covered the Muffs song "Big Mouth" on their Rock 'N' Roll Habits For The New Wave LP. "Big Mouth" was also covered by American punk rock bands Off with Their Heads (on the Art of the Underground Singles Series Volume 9){{cite web |url=http://www.artoftheunderground.com/products/533808-off-with-their-heads-single-series-volume-9 |title=Off With Their Heads – Single Series Volume 9 |year=2016 |publisher=Art Of The Underground |work=Artoftheunderground.com |accessdate=March 26, 2016 }} and The Linda Lindas (for the soundtrack of the film Moxie).{{cite web |url=https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/moxie-soundtrack-review |title=Amy Poehler's Netflix Movie 'Moxie' Is a Riot Grrrl Starter Pack |website=thrillist.com |date=2021-03-03 |access-date=2022-11-11}}

File:The Muffs.jpg

• The Muffs (1993) (reissued with bonus tracks by Burger Records in 2015)
• Blonder and Blonder (1995)
• Happy Birthday to Me (1997)
• Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow (1999)
• Really Really Happy (2004)
• Whoop Dee Doo (2014)
• No Holiday (2019)

• Hamburger (2000)
• Kaboodle (2011)

• File:The Muffs - Kim Shattuck - Madrid 2009.jpg"New Love" (1991)
• "Guilty" (1991)
• "I Need You" (1992)
• "Big Mouth" (1993)
• "Lucky Guy" (1993)
• "Everywhere I Go" (1993)
• "Sad Tomorrow" (1995) (#29 Canadian RPM Alternative Singles){{cite web |url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.9238&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.9238.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.9238 |title=Image: RPM Weekly (1995)|publisher=Library and Archives Canada |work=Bac-lac.gc.ca |accessdate=March 26, 2016 }}
• "I'm a Dick" (1996)
• "Outer Space" (1998)
• "Happening" (1999)
• "No Action" (2000)
• "Really Really Happy" (2004)
• "A Lovely Day Boo Hoo" (2019)
• "Changes" (2023)

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Category:Sympathy for the Record Industry artists

Category:Musical groups established in 1991

Category:1991 establishments in California

Category:Musical groups from Los Angeles

Category:Pop punk groups from California

Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2019

Category:2019 disestablishments in California

Category:Burger Records artists