Remembering Jennifer Finch 1966-2026
This one hurts. Musician Jennifer Finch has died at 59 (read the obit from Stereogum here). She was the bassist for L7 from 1986-1996 and since their 2014 reunion. This news comes only days after they announced that she had an aggressive form of brain cancer and a GoFundMe was set up for her. I donated and I also posted about it here. Within days they exceeded the fundraising goal.
Finch began as the bassist in Sugar Babydoll in the mid-80s. That band featured Courtney Love pre-Hole and Kat Bjelland pre-Babes in Toyland. She, then, co-founded the L.A. band L7. At the peak of 90s grunge, the media fixated on the idea of an all-girl punk rock band with metal tendencies (not a pop-rock band like The Bangles or The Go-Goโs, but a full-on rock band). The old boys club press that regarded them asย โnot bad for a girl bandโ, missed the point entirely. They rocked harder than a lot of male bands at the time. They had many pop culture moments in their career: their big hit โPretend Weโre Deadโ, appearing in the John Waters filmย Serial Mom, and performing at Lollapaloozaย โ94. Sadly, L7 were a cautionary tale of an indie rock band that got signed to the majors after the 90s alt-rock explosion and when they didnโt deliver the major label album sales, they were cut. Finch left the band in 1996 and the band later broke up in 2001.ย
Finch and her L7 bandmates circa 1990
Dave Grohl and Finch circa 1991
Finch and Kurt Cobain circa 1991
Finch and Courtney Love in early 90s
In 1994 after the death of Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff and before Melissa Auf der Maur joined, Finch appeared in Hole's music video for "Doll Parts" on bass. L7 were close with Nirvana in the 90s and for a short time, Finch and Dave Grohl dated.
L7ย live at The Paradise on 8/11/16ย with Finch far right
Finch was also a noted photographer and played in some other bands including OtherStarPeople and The Shocker. In 2014, L7 reunited and Finch toured and recorded with them. Here at Greenโs Party, Iโve been lucky enough to witness what L7 has done since reuniting in 2014: I saw them live in 2016 (read my reviewย here), reviewed the 2017 documentaryย L7: Pretend Weโre Deadย (read itย here), got to review their 2019 reunion albumย Scatter the Ratsย (read itย here) which I named one of my Best Albums of 2019 FYI, the 30th anniversary reissue ofย Smell the Magicย and the 30th anniversary reissue ofย Bricks are Heavy. Finch has been a vital part of the bandโs sound. While I did like some of the albums they released after she left the band in 1996 and prior to her return in 2014, she was an essential piece of the bandโs sound.ย
Thoughts go out to Ms. Finch's family, L7 and their team.
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