As the perennial Live Through This turns 25, the iconic band considers a comeback
In a new interview, Courtney Love has floated the idea of a Hole reunion. “We are definitely talking about it,” she told the Guardian.
Hole formed in LA in 1989, led by Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. Over the years the wider lineup has changed, but Patty Schemel, Melissa Auf der Maur, and Kristen Pfaff have been the mainstays. The band was a vital part of the emergent punk scene in the 90s, with a fervent, women-led narrative that grasped America in its jaws. “There’s nothing wrong with honouring your past,” Love added in her recent interview. “If you don’t, people will rewrite history and you will become an inconvenient woman.”
Recent months have seen the return of several bands that defined the punk and grunge era, from Sleater-Kinney to L7 and Bikini Kill all announcing comeback tours and/or music. One Dazed writer recently questioned and unpacked the seeming return to the scene’s ideals and issues – a ‘return to riot’ of sorts – in our current culture.
Hole went on hiatus back in 2002 and several of its members dove into different music projects. In 2012, at a screening of Hit So Hard, a documentary about Schemel, the original band plus Auf der Maur reunited briefly to play “Miss World”. Over the years, Love has hinted and then backtracked on the idea of a true reunion, citing a range of issues. In 2010, Love reformed the band with a completely new lineup and released music, which led to some alleged contract disputes and issues with former bandmates. That seems to have all dissipated though, as the most recent interview where Love discusses the possibility of a comeback includes the voices of Erlandson and Schemel.
In the band’s interview with the Guardian, they also discuss their iconic album Live Through This, the trauma of the commercial music industry, and the real story behind their sound and lyrics.
Outside of music, Love recently took issue with a slogan t-shirt that appeared in Vetements’ punk-inspired AW19 collection, which recalls a shirt Kurt Cobain wore to take a jab at the music industry in a 1992 Rolling Stone cover shoot, which reads “corporate magazines still suck”.
While we shouldn’t hold our breath over the promise of a reformed Hole, their comeback would feel timely and dynamic – a reunion would be realised in time for the 25th anniversary of Live Through This, Hole’s second studio albumIn the meantime, look back at Love’s lush in-conversation with Lana Del Rey for Dazed.
