Sirens of swamp rock!

Hell Fucken Rumble was a fierce, female-fronted trio from Wellington, New Zealand, that tore through the local music scene with a raw blend of psychedelic fury and biting social commentary. Formed in a haze of warehouse jams and cask wine, the band came together when Sheree and Julia drunkenly started playing one night at a friend’s flat on Edward Street. After recruiting Terri at a party to play bass, the trio was born, driven by a shared passion for music and drugs. When Terri quit after a wild LSD and speed influenced first gig, Bell stepped in, picking up the bass despite no prior experience, and Hell Fucken Rumble was born.

Describing their sound as “metal-sonic cowgirl tanti-sludge surf metal,” Hell Fucken Rumble’s music was a chaotic, genre-defying assault that tackled personal and political themes with unapologetic venom, summoning Black Sabbath, Diamanda Galas, Joni Mitchell and The Cramps. Sheree penned most of their lyrics, with Bell contributing a few tracks, raging against racism, rape, abusive relationships, and more, while celebrating drugs and defiance in songs like “Men Stop Raping Women,” “Starfire,” and “Dragonfruit Juice.” Their performances were raw, visceral, and often chaotic, marked by wrestling noise control officers and electrifying gigs.

The band’s discography includes early recordings on the 2001 Women’s Work CD, a rare 50-copy cassette Hell Rock’n’Fumble (2001, Stink Magnetic Tapes), the 2006 Hell Fucken Rumble CD recorded at Erskine College, and a track on the 2004 Stop the Bypass compilation which was organised by Bell and Adam Cohn of If I Had A Gun. They toured with punk legends Flesh D-Vice in 2001, playing around the North Island.

“Auckland was a haze of booze and crack. We played with Morning Horns at the Kings Arms. The next day, we drove to New Plymouth, turned on to the main street, and found ourselves at the front of the Santa parade. The streets were lined with families, and Eugene said “they must’ve heard we were coming”. Julia

Hell Fucken Rumble split in 2005, with Bell embarking on an anarcho-punk odyssey in Europe and South America, while Sheree and Julia pursued their own paths. The trio made a brief 2009 reunion at a house party but the result “felt eerily like raising something from the dead that should have been left to rest”, according to Julia.

Bell ended up in Dunedin playing in Whiskey and The Wench while Julia, now based in Napier, was the legend who drove the rungus bus for the “5 Bands 1 Bus Tour of the South Island” in 2014.

Origin	Turret House
Genre	punk, metal psychedelic rock
Years Active	2001 – 2005
Associated Acts	Carnys Flesh D-Vice Cortina
Past Members	Bell (bass) Julia (drums) Sheree (guitar)

Releases

Title	Date	Label	Type	Format
Women’s Work	2001		compilation	CD
Hell Rock ‘n’ Fumble	2001, Oct 3	Stink Magnetic Mag18	album	tape
Stop The Bypass	2004		compilation	CD
Hell Fucken Rumble	2006, June 6		album	CD/ DL