Biography
Fatal Jelly Space were an all-female Auckland alternative rock band active from 1989 to 1994, widely regarded as one of the most ferocious and politically charged live acts in the New Zealand music scene of the early 1990s. Vocalist Frankie Hill and drummer Cath O’Dwyer connected at student radio station bFM, where Jacinda Klouwens — formerly of The Honeys and the Groovy Girls — later joined after responding to an ad looking for vocalists and a bassist for an all-girl band.
The band played a confrontational mix of punk-pop, post-punk, and industrial-inflected grunge, their setlists addressing sexual violence, suicide, and consumerism alongside dark humour. Staunchly feminist, they were a provocative presence on Auckland stages, sharing bills with Headless Chickens, Bailterspace, and Straitjacket Fits, and supporting international acts including The Fall and Babes in Toyland. One reviewer memorably dismissed them as “a bunch of feminist ball-bashers” — a badge the band wore with pride.
Their sole official release, the Hole EP (1990), was recorded at The Lab in Auckland and released on Flying Nun Records. Graham Reid of Elsewhere called it “one of the great unsung New Zealand EPs of the 1990s,” noting its range from the prog-tinged “Moonlit Track” to the abrasive “Death Fuck Pop.” The band’s Flying Nun deal was secured partly through a successful arts grant application shepherded by their manager Suzanne McNamara. Copies of the vinyl are now very hard to find.
Reflecting on the band’s significance, keyboardist Sarah Cole observed: “We were unknowingly part of a wider global movement of all-women bands who were also playing punk and thrash together.” Fatal Jelly Space disbanded in 1994. In 2019, a second EP, In the Room of Forgotten Songs, surfaced on streaming platforms, and live recordings were later released on Bandcamp.
Members
- Frankie Hill (vocals / guitar, Fatal Jelly Space)
- Jacinda Klouwens (vocals, Fatal Jelly Space, Groovy Girls, The Honeys)
- Sarah Cole (keyboard / vocals, Fatal Jelly Space)
- Barbara Morgan (bass, Fatal Jelly Space, Haiku Redo, Lig, Second Child)
- Cath O’Dwyer (drums, Fatal Jelly Space)
Discography
- Hole EP (Flying Nun Records, 1990)
- In the Room of Forgotten Songs EP (unreleased; surfaced on streaming, 2019)
- The Fatals Live (Bandcamp, released posthumously)