If “The Four Housewives of Apocalypse” sounds like an oxymoron to you, then you probably never heard of The Red Stains. At Vanadian Avenue we have been hard core followers of the quartet since they formed in 2019. Hand on the heart – the best, most original and completely underrated band from Manchester.
Frankly it should not surprise anyone that I even said it. Undervaluing women is an order of the day on the Mancunian scene, because it constantly endangers, belittles and dismisses women that contribute to the arts in town. Denise Johnson only got a mural after she died and there was one created for DJ Paulette recently, the first since she started her career thirty-four years ago. The first mural Oasis blokes got was a month after their debut gig, so figure. Nico will probably wait another decade before she gets a blue plaque in the city. But look, they finally gave one to Diane Charlemange, just not to her colleagues and friends from the ground breaking 52nd Street: Jennifer McCloud and Beverly McDonald. I don’t even want to remind everyone what a horrible treatment Rowetta got from her own band – Happy Mondays (you guys seriously sucks) and everyone just moved on like it never happened.
People honestly have no idea that Jane Weaver, Lisa Stansfield, Cleopatra, Corinne Drewery, Gillian Gilbert or Melanie Williams have been part of the Manc musical scene for ages, setting trends and modernizing local soundscape. Hands up if any of you can name contemporary artists on the local indie circuit such as Blondine, The Empty Page, Two of the Same or Skint Knees.
Why this happens, you may ask, and we shall provide you with a simple explanation: because men in MAN-chester don’t give a shit about music made by women. But not in the sense that they just ignore it. Men in the local music scene don’t give a shit about women and their well being and show this in a variety of ways. One of the notables in town is a far righter and raging racist, another a self confessed neo nazi parading around local venues in a Combat 18 tee. There is also this one who did an “investigative journalism” on a female promoter and PR agent for offering her services to bands so she could earn an income (imagine that!). Others constantly defend men accused of rape and assault such as Paul Gallagher or turn their heads and pretend they are not seeing what`s in the front of them. Cabbage still has fans here and were invited to a recent Merch Fair. Awesome place to be a woman our Northern Powerhouse is, right? They do things differently here!
You know, the `grim up North` saying doesn’t mean the weather. It’s a reference to the content of the heads of so many male “colleagues”. I am using inverted commas just like Manchester Evening News usually does when the paper reports rape.
At the same time when the Manchester music scene is actively erasing women and making their lives literal hell, it has an unhealthy interest in various lad bands that borders on obsession. If we could only invite Freud for a night out in the NQ and introduce him to some of the manly (read toxic) guys on the circuit, the psychiatry would have a field day.
But wait a minute, Malicia. You were supposed to review a single. It should be a review and not a diatribe! What has it all to do with The Red Stains?!
IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE BAND!
Do you think that somebody who called a Black feminist punk band N word (and told me to get out of the UK to my face) will look kindly at a white working-class feminist band? Or maybe you hope that self proclaimed neo nazi will write a nice review of the single about fear of societal breakdown? We fought two world wars to get rid of nazi scum forever and what do we have now? That nazi scum is attending local punk shows. The societal breakdown is here because of the far right “dude bros”. You expect somebody who harassed a local woman to believe in the talent of other local women, when they don’t even believe in climate change?
The Red Stains started in 2019. That’s six years ago. Lads bands in Mancunia get signed to labels within two years. By five, they have at least two albums out and an European tour. While women either quit or do it on their own at the pace of a funeral procession.
You don’t understand how hard The Red Stains have been working to get where they are now. Their achievements are impressive: they have been played multiple times on national radio like BBC 6 and by the legendary DJs like Tom Robinson since their debut single, had a spin on BBC Introducing with every release including “Diana`s Seatbelt”, played high profile gigs in the North: Manchester International Festival (being invited by Dave Haslam probably the last man from the old guard I still have respect for) and were filmed for the festival official documentary, were part of Factory International session, Rebellion Festival, Beyond The Music Manchester, Manchester Psych Fest, Shambala Festival, Focus Wales, were a subject of a short film Feminine Energy for Independent Women`s Day filmed at Pirate Studios by Womens Camera Collective Manchester. They supported Skating Polly, The Menstrual Cramps and Loose Articles, in my humble opinion, some of the rawest and boldest female acts we have at present.
Still no label interest, no big mentions in leading newspapers like Guardian or even MEN, I don’t see all the professional industry hot shots sliding in their DMs. Yeah, the same names that go to Music Week to announce how they support talent and minorities, the same writers who are so sensitive to injustices of our industry, the same established progressives who should support a queer band, somehow are not there when it comes to The Red Stains. They also weren’t available when Delilah Bon and Alt Blk Era were rising to the top. Makes you think what they all are doing as time after time they keep on missing promising female artists. Must be washing their non-existent hair or something like wanking over their big egos.
I am going to throw in another cliché to this article, that of truth being stranger than fiction. Many months ago, I compared The Red Stains to protagonists of the 80s cult classic film Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, a story of a female trio that persisted and achieved rock stardom. It is kind of surreal to look at the quartet and see the raison d’etre of the film manifest itself in real life. A rock band with passion, determination, incredible skills, artistic integrity and something to say, still being side tracked because men can’t deal with women who are strong and know what they represent.
At the center of The Red Stains there has always been the chemistry between singer Natalie Emslie (also a beautician and award winning make up artist) and bassist Sterling Kelly (also a model and visual artist). When drummer Robyn Elliot (also multi-instrumentalist) and guitarist Grace Allport (also working in the NHS) joined in 2022, the most classic line up of the band was finalized.
Music-wise The Red Stains are a mixture of post punk, glam, experimental rock and their own wicked take on Britpop. Think The Flowers of Romance meet Fuzzbox that went to a gig of Neo Boys and decided to take over the world. Visually, the four piece are probably the best thing that has happened to British music since Vivienne Westwood. The band calls themselves a merge of “cyborg-housewife-glitchy-kitschy-supermarket core”. Literally, anything goes: outfits inspired by Red or Dead, Ann Nicole Smith, glam, Y2K faux leather, 80s band tees and looks designed for Bratz dolls. All nicely matched with their Doc Martens, fishnets and professional make-up. You do want to meet them in a dark alley behind AATMA, great party guaranteed.
The Red Stains make the Manchester scene interesting and humane and any reviewer hopeful. Nothing makes me feel better about the future than seeing upcoming acts challenging old schemes and bringing something new to the table.
Not that the band`s songs are optimistic. “Diana`s Seatbelt”, for example, is a reference to a car crash that killed the Princess of Wales in 1997. And it is an allegory to the state of the world, where old boomers murder, plunder and threaten Armageddon. Robyn, Grace and Sterling create a cacophony of noise that could soundtrack a horror movie (or constitute a phenomenal contemporary jazz recital, depending on where you stand), on top of which Natalie shrieks like a banshee about the danger of nuclear conflict. Mark E. Smith would be jealous.
Strangely enough “Diana`s Seatbelt” reminds me of early Mr Epp and The Calculations. And not even off “Ridiculing the Apocalypse” album, but rather their earlier work when the band would create a racket while Mark Arm howled about generals wanting World War Three. Early Seattle scene, or rather Olympia scene for the win.
In an interview with Underground England, Sterling Kelly spoke about how The Red Stains were constantly misunderstood by men they encountered. “I made up the name The Red Stains. It means everything you think it means” – they observed – “Bloody marks on your favourite underwear, sure. But it’s also ketchup on your white t-shirt, lipstick scribbles on a bathroom wall. So many women get it straight away. A few men have told me it’s a disgusting name for a band too, which is kind of the whole point, right?”
I think this answers what is really going on in the Manc scene towards females. Men don’t want to understand women. They are just disgusted by us at best and hostile to us at worst. It is not the `male loneliness` crisis. It is the crisis that women are left alone to deal with a brutal pandemic of violence against them.
When The Red Stains released a video to their single “Fluid” to protest implementation of trans apartheid in the UK by gender critical fascists (fun fact it was Third Reich that invented `gender criticism`), they were attacked online by disgraced former TV writer Graham Lineham. Nobody stood up for them. The band defended themselves.
You can look at “Diana`s Seatbelt” not just through the prism of a punk single. You can view it as a story of how women are always abandoned. Princess Diana was hounded by the press and Royal Family, frankly until her last moment. We see a sad repeat of it with Megan Markle (with additional levels of racism in this case). Making a target out of any woman, even a princess, can result in a literal end of the world for that woman.
Some people may be upset that I write “men” in this article instead of “some men” as if I am implying that all men are responsible. There are some guys that stand by women but let`s be honest for a moment. It may be some men who actively treat us badly, but the rest just excuses that behavior and reinforces it. So, from the perspective of a woman, it is still all men. And a hell lot of women too!
It is a grim reflection, but I feel that we need to make this point. Only then may things start to change. And if you are offended by a feminist perspective on a feminist blog about a feminist band then feel free to fuck off to 4 Chan. Just don’t forget to give your face, passport and full address to Palantir. After all this is where you socially conservative types got us. To a total car wreck of a country. And we all are as terrified as Princess Diana in that French tunnel. Seatbelt on or not.
You can follow the band on the socials:
https://theredstains.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/theredstains
https://www.tiktok.com/@theredstains
https://www.instagram.com/theredstains
www.youtube.com/@theredstainsband
https://soundcloud.com/theredstains
https://open.spotify.com/artist/18XRDM5NAu9nk3R7WhHBmq
Additional reading:
https://loudwomen.org/2025/07/23/the-red-stains-take-a-satirical-look-at-the-car-crash-were-all-currently-living-in-in-dianas-seatbelt
https://underground-england.com/bold-bloody-and-brilliant-an-interview-with-manchester-based-punk-band-the-red-stains
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1172886121513291&set=pcb.1172886258179944 (interview with the band from Devolution Magazine)
Malicia Dabrowicz
Indieterria 