{{Short description|American all-female no wave band}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Y Pants | image =File:Y_Pants_poster_for_TR3_performance_in_1979.jpg | caption =1979 Y Pants poster for Tier 3 performance | image_size = | alias = | origin = New York City, U.S. | genre = No wave, art rock, post-punk, noise music | years_active = 1979–1982 | label = 99 Records, Neutral Records | website = | members = | past_members = Barbara Ess<br/>Virginia Piersol<br/>Gail Vachon }}
'''Y Pants''' were an American all-female no wave band from New York City active from 1979 to 1982.<ref>Masters, Marc. ''No Wave''. London: Black Dog Publishing, 2007, p. 203</ref> The trio, made up of photographer/musician Barbara Ess, visual artist Virginia Piersol (aka Virge Piersol), and filmmaker Gail Vachon, developed a unique sound via their acoustic toy instrumentation of toy piano, ukulele and a paper-headed Mickey Mouse drum kit, augmented by electric bass guitar, Casio keyboards and various low-tech effects.<ref name=Dusted>{{cite web|last=Water|first=Seth|title=Dusted Reviews: Y Pants|url=http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/3819|publisher=Dusted Magazine|access-date=January 23, 2011}}</ref>
Y Pants' feminist poetics and toy instrumentation made them a hit in Manhattans's art gallery scene, while their No Wave clout brought them to be regulars at punk rock venues like CBGB's. In 1980, Glenn Branca recorded their debut 4-song EP for 99 Records, followed by an LP two years later.<ref>Masters, Marc. ''No Wave''. London: Black Dog Publishing, 2007, p. 203</ref> Lyrically, most of the Y-Pants' material covered the off-kilter aspects of relationships, with explorations into the perils of laundry ("Favorite Sweater"), materialism ("We Have Everything"), patriarchy ("That's The Way Boys Are"), and a reworking of Bertolt Brecht's "Barbara's Song" from ''Threepenny Opera''. Musically they have been compared to their British post-punk contemporaries The Raincoats for their overlapping vocal choruses and kitchen-sinkish approach to sound, rhythm and composition.
Novelist and critic Lynne Tillman wrote the lyrics for the band's song "Obvious."<ref name="Dusted"/>
Y-Pants disbanded shortly after the release of their album, reportedly reuniting each year on the various band members' birthdays.<ref name=CD>{{cite book|last=Ess|first=Barbara|title=Y Pants CD Liner Notes|year=1998|publisher=Periodic Document}}</ref> Barbara Ess remained musically active throughout the 1980s, frequently contributing tracks to ''Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine'' and collaborating with Peggy Ahwesh on 2001's ''Radio Guitar'' for the Ecstatic Peace! label.
==Discography== * "Little Music EP" (99 Records, 1980) * ''Beat It Down'' LP (Neutral Records, 1982) * "Magnetic Attraction" (song recorded in 1980 and released in 1988 on ''Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine'' No. 21: "Audio By Visual Artists"') * ''Y Pants'' CD (Periodic Document, 1998, collects all of the above recordings)
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links== *[http://ubumexico.centro.org.mx/sound/artist_tellus/Tellus-21-Artists_27_y.mp3 Y Pants – "Magnetic Attraction", 1980, Gail Vachon: ukulele; Barbara Ess: bass; Verge Piersol. drums, Vocals: all. (3:11)]{{Dead link|date=December 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} on Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine
Category:No wave groups Category:All-female punk bands Category:American art rock groups Category:American post-punk music groups Category:Female musical trios