Sometimes they are mistaken for a queercore band like labelmates Pansy Division, but one listen to the Queers' adolescent-boy-who-never-grew-up lyrics ("She's got no tit," "I'm really goo-goo over you/I'm mentally retarded too," "She's my Burger King Queen," etc.) will dispel that misconception. While some of their songs border on sexism and homophobia, they are simply too goofy and good-natured to... Read More.

Related Bands: Groovie Ghoulies

Sometimes they are mistaken for a queercore band like labelmates Pansy Division, but one listen to the Queers' adolescent-boy-who-never-grew-up lyrics ("She's got no tit," "I'm really goo-goo over you/I'm mentally retarded too," "She's my Burger King Queen," etc.) will dispel that misconception. While some of their songs border on sexism and homophobia, they are simply too goofy and good-natured to mean any harm with their left-back-four-grades, dumb-ass shtick. Formed in 1982, this New Hampshire group ambled their way through the 1980s, recording a few singles and compilation tracks along the way, many of which were collected on Lookout!'s A Day Late and a Dollar Short. Before recording their first full-length studio album, Grow Up, the group finally settled on a permanent lineup consisting of singer/guitarist Joe King/Queer, drummer Hugh O'Neill and B-Face on bass. Grow Up was released on a small English label called Shakin' Street, which promptly went belly up after only 1, 000 copies were pressed. Screeching Weasel frontman Ben Weasel got Lookout! label owner Larry Livermore to sign the Queers, and in 1993 Lookout! released the Ben Weasel-produced Love Songs for the Retarded. Love Songs... was followed by a yearly salvo of bubblegum-punk, from 1994's Beat Off to 1996's magnum opus, Don't Back Down, the best late-'70s-era Ramones album the Ramones never recorded. After a long bout with brain cancer, O'Neill died on January 21, 1999; Later Days and Better Lays, issued that spring, assembled unreleased Queers material recorded during his tenure with the band. In 2001 The Queers return to Lookout! with a brand new EP produced with Ben Weasel and it marks a rebirth and a renewed energy for the band. Still touring incessantly and still loved by kids all over the world, The Queers truly won't back down!

-Kenbrew Mcleod