Kim Shattuck, the singer, and guitarist who co-founded and led the SoCal punk band the Muffs alongside contributions to Pixies and NOFX died Wednesday at the age of 56. Shattuck was everywhere in the U.S. indie rock scenes and punk of the past three decades.
Kim’s husband confirmed the sad news on Wednesday as he paid touching tribute to the singer, calling her ‘the love of my life’. ‘I am the man I am today because of her,’ he said. ‘She will live with us all through her music, our shared memories and in her fierce creative spirit. I’ll love you always my Kimmy. Thank you for sharing your life with me.’ Her bandmates Ronnie Barnett and Roy McDonald also said in a statement that Kim was ‘a true force of nature’, they added: ‘She was our good friend and playing her songs was an honor for us.’
Kim passed away following a two-year fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor-neuron disease. The condition is also called Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It causes the destruction of neurons that control voluntary muscles. Early symptoms of this disease include stiff muscles and twitching, with patients later having difficulty in speaking, swallowing and breathing. Despite her illness Shattuck continued to work with The Muffs, producing their latest album, No Holiday, which is due for release on 18 October.
Here’s the list of Kim Shattuck best songs that we’d remember
1. The Muffs, “I Don’t Like You” (1991)- The Muffs started as a quartet — ex-Pandoras Shattuck and Melanie Vammen (guitar), along with Ronnie Barnett (bass) and Criss Crass (drums).
2. White Flag, “Don’t Give It Away” (1992)- A short-lived collaboration of the Muffs and White Flag, a California punk band, yielded one single: “Do not Give It Away,” written by Kim Shattuck and White Flag’s Pat Fear, a gorgeous power-pop song that Shattuck gives a dose of raw desperation.
3. The Muffs, “Everywhere I Go” (1993)- Among the Muffs’ few mainstream incursions in the 1990s was “Everywhere I Go,” a highlight of their first album, which was used in Fruitopia commercials.
4. The Beards, “1000 Years” (2002)- The Beards was a side project among Shattuck, Lisa Marr and Sherri Solinger (the latter two were in the Lisa Marr Experience), with Shattuck and Marr alternating lead vocals.
5. The Muffs, “Weird Boy Next Door” (2014)- The Muffs did not break up as much as they took a hiatus that went for longer than they expected. Reuniting a decade later for 2014’s Whoop De Doo, they picked up right where they left off, sounding barely older than they did on Blonder and Blonder and like they could have gone on for 20 years more.
6. The Coolies, “Uh Oh!” (2019)- Although suffering from ALS for the past two years, Shattuck cut another Muffs album — an 18-track album, due to be released in a few weeks – and formed a new band, The Coolies, a reunion with Melanie Vammen.
