Kiss & Kill

Le Butcherettes are led by the sexy and slightly scary Teri Gender Bender (Teresa Suarez), a powerhouse rock ’n’ roll performer. She plays guitar and sings, clad in distressed and bloodied party dresses and house aprons, and delivers risqué invitations with an edgy, throaty shriek. Bridging the riot grrl sound of the ‘90s with a garage- punk sensibility, there’s also a serious case of the blues in the raspy creep of the guitar and the thrusting rhythms underpinning Bender’s f-bomb-loaded lyrics. The swampy grind of “Honey Honey” and “I’m Queen” recalls both the Cramps and the Gun Club, and the punk yelp of “Last Tear” conjures the Avengers and Sleater-Kinney. Begun as a duo in Mexico City, drummer Auryn Jolene left the band shortly after the release of *Kiss & Kill*, which won the award for Best Punk Record at the 2009 Indie-O Awards in Mexico. Suarez moved to L.A. and put together a trio for the band’s follow-up, *Sin Sin Sin*, and envisions spreading her own feminist gospel -- “Butcherism” -- to the unenlightened masses. She’s a powerful evangelist, so consider yourselves warned.