Isabelle's Gift

The Columbia, SC, band Isabelle's Gift plays a furious blend of punk, metal, and Southern rock. The group came together in the early '90s, and throughout that decade existed primarily as a regional phenomenon, releasing independent CDs and playing local venues. However, the band eventually gained opening slots for several national acts, the most significant of which was the Bloodhound Gang, with whom they toured extensively. In fact, Isabelle's Gift would release 2001's Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms on Bloodhound frontman Jimmy Pop's label, Jimmy Franks Recording Company. Isabelle's Gift has gained notoriety for their brazen live shows, which have featured strippers, barbed wire, and blood (among other such ephemera), and their blistering musical attack. The band's moniker is a sly reference to venereal disease. ~ Erik Hage