Let’s begin at the beginning, with the holy grail of riot grrrl:
Bikini Kill - The first two records
*white noise*
Is that supposed to be doing that?
*more noise and feedback*
Ok, sorry, ok we're starting now
WE’RE BIKINI KILL
AND WE WANT REVOLUTION
GIRL STYLE NOW!
*cue riff*
Riot grrrl punk changed my life and this record was my introduction to it. Eventually I kind of neglected it in favour of Sleater-Kinney, and more recently the Frumpies. Still, when I look back and compare, this is the definitive riot grrrl album. Not only that; even though I consider Sleater-Kinney the better band overall, this album makes Bikini Kill the greatest riot grrrl band (I’ve tried Bikini Kill’s other albums, and they don’t come close. This one is less polished, and much more powerful).
Why this album in particular? It’s mainly because of Kathleen’s voice. She switches from screaming to wailing to shrieking to bellowing to schoolgirl singsong in a baffling way. And she has a beautiful, powerful voice. And obnoxious too of course, but hilariously so (just like some of the less subtle lyrics: ‘DOES IT SCARE YOU BOYS, THAT WE DON’T NEEED YOUUU ‘). Kathleen Hanna = Attitude. The way she performs is spectacular, throwing her entire body into her singing and bouncing and dancing all over the place. Even in between songs she keeps restlessly swaying and moving, like a caged animal. I recommend that anyone remotely interested in Bikini Kill have a look at some of their live footage.
So anyway, the record begins with this iconic and adorably over-earnest catchphrase, followed by two songs (which effectively are kind of one song) which start off the Kathleen hurricane with immense bravado. She just yells away, delivers the world ‘girl’ in the best way possible ('GURL!'), and switches to faux Cockney English at some point (ROIGHTS, ROIGHTS, YOU. DO. HAVE. RIGHTS!). Apart from this greatness, these songs feature random rhythm shifts and an amazing sudden fit of unhinged screaming like someone is being attacked by an axe murderer. Then we get
Carnival, which is an absolute pogofest (when you ignore the subject matter), with its delicious bass and one of Kathleen’s most beautiful moments (‘and it ****ING
KILLS me!’) and this is followed by the incredible
Suck My Left One. Forget
Rebel Girl, even though that’s also a masterpiece; this is Bikini Kill’s best song and Kathleen’s (or anyone’s, don’t @ me) greatest vocal tour-de-force. This is where her voice switches between underage girl and wrathful monster (and takes on a bunch of other identities in between) in some kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde take on what seems to be sexual abuse. With
Feels Blind, yet another masterpiece, Bikini Kill manages to write a song that is actually beautiful. I don’t care if it makes me sound like a little bitch; this song speaks to and nurtures my soul. Then there’s
Thurston Hearts the Who, which is just Kathleen reciting some criticism on the band by Thurston Moore in the most snotty voice imaginable, accompanied by the rest of the band chanting ‘THURSTON HEARTS THE WHO’ and adding some wordless screaming for good measure. It’s petty and childish and great. Of course their feud didn’t last because Kathleen appeared in the music video of
Bull in the Heather, but afaik that was on Kim’s request. Anyway go **** yourself, Thurston.
The weakness of this album is that the first half is much better and more memorable than the second. If you love this kind of music that’s no issue, the comparative filler on the second half still kicks ass, but there’s not much worth mentioning here. There are two exceptions of course:
Don’t Need You, with it’s 'don't need you to tell us we're good/don't need you to say we suck/don't need your protection/don't need your dick to ****', (also ‘Don’t need your atti-****in-tude boy’) and
Rebel Girl. Mother****ing
Rebel Girl. From the blunt drumbeat kickoff to the last second, this song has stomped its way into many budding rebel girl’s hearts and will continue to do so. It is a source of life. It has enough butch machismo to turn all the frogs gay at once. And that’s it. This is one huge lump of text actually; I got carried away. I’d marry this record if I could.
Choice tracks: