Bikini Kill "The C.D. Version Of The First Two Records" 1994(comp)****

A few years ago I decided to acknowledge the 8th of March (International Women's Day) with the presentation of a Riot-Grrrl band, Sleater-Kinney. This year I thought I'd do the same with arguably the most iconic -certainly the most political- band of that movement, Bikini Kill. Why? you ask. Am I a feminist? No. Firstly, and more obviously, because I'm a guy. I know my profile photo isn't very clear, but don't let the long hair fool you. It's the photo of a guy, not of a bearded lady. And I don't think women need me to speak for them. Secondly, to one degree or another, all -isms seem to promote dogmatic and fanatic, even intolerant, behavior. Look at what happened with the #MeToo movement: an instrument for awareness sometimes abused for settling personal scores and to conduct high profile social media witch hunts. With that reservation, I do respect and support feminists, as I do all activists fighting for a righteous cause.

So I couldn't help being impressed while watching "The Punk Singer", a documentary on Kathleen Hanna, Bikini Kill's singer and de facto leader of the Riot Grrrl scene. I thought "wow! what an inspirational person! so radical, and provocative, and fearless!" which is obviously what the filmmakers wanted me to think, so kudos to them. They took an interesting story and made an arresting film out of it. I don't know if they overglorified their protagonist, but even if they did so what? The world needs hero(in)es. More to tonight's point, I liked the music in the film, so I went out and bought a CD by Bikini Kill. I chose this compilation of early material, as I recognized some titles from the film. Despite its title it doesn't contain any songs from their two LP's. The "two records" mentioned are the band's debut E.P. and a split L.P. with Huggy Bear. The reissue augments those with 7 unreleased demos, mostly of atrocious quality, but arguably of historic interest to fans. Not that the rest is the height of hi-fi but, hey, that's punk rock for you. Apparently many fans prefer these rough and aggressive recordings to the supposedly more "polished" later versions. The eponymous debut E.P. was "produced" by Fugazi's Ian MacKaye who basically just let them loose in the studio and recorded the result. His decision to not try to rein them in has ensured this EP has both fanatic admirers and adversaries (check out this contemporary review on Rolling Stone). If the best U.S. hardcore bands sound like a speeding train ready to destroy anything that gets in its way, Bikini Kill is the sound of a train that's been derailed and rolling down the slope at terrific speed. The drumming is just as aggressive but anarchic instead of mathematic. The vocals are simply out of control: Kathleen shouts, scoffs, snarls and screams with all the power she can muster. Which is a lot. 

  

The first song of their first record serves as a perfect statement of intent: "We're Bikini Kill and we want Revolution Girl-style now! Hey girlfriend/ I got a proposition goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you want/ Dare ya to be who you will/Dare ya to cry right out loud 'You get so emotional baby' I Double dare ya/ Double dare triple fuckin' dare ya girlfriend". It's a veritable classic and, along with a few other songs here, strangely reminiscent of the Dead Kennedys. Surprising how often Hanna manages to sound like an unholy hybrid of The Kennedys' Jello Biafra and your typical valley girl. "Liar" could have been another anthem, but gets derailed by blood-curling screams over a mocking reference to John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance". Both this and the Ramones-y "Suck My Left One" reference rape and sexual abuse, not the lightest subjects in the world. "Carnival" is a dark satire and "Thurston Hearts The Who" a musical improvisation over reading a review of the band's performance. "Feels Blind" is the tragically poetic one, starting with melancholy before letting the rage out again "I'm the woman I was taught to always be hungry... I'd (even) eat your fucking hate up like love". Songs 7-13 come from the split L.P. "Yeah Yeah Yeah". They touch similar subjects and sport a similar hardcore sound. The highlights are "White Boy" (basically casting the typical male as an idiot and potential rapist, no wonder the band were portrayed in the media as man-haters) and, of course, "Rebel Girl" which became an unofficial Riot Grrrl anthem with its blend of politics and lesbian infatuation. Truth be told, of the 3 versions of this song Bikini Kill recorded, this is the least good one. The anthemic chorus and provocative lyrics are there, but it seems unnecessarily noisy and angry whereas later versions are proud and celebratory. Of the last 7 tracks, the less said the better: mostly uncooked punk in real lo-fi quality. Even lyrically they're quite weak. I mean "George Bush Is A Pig"? C'mon, is that all you got? OK, the spoken word "Chevy Window" is funny, though I suspect it was going for righteous anger. I choose to ignore the extra tracks that came with the latest reissue and give a solid 4* to the rest of the album. And, seriously, watch the embedded documentary above. You'll become a fan, too.

***** for Double Dare Ya

**** for Liar, Carnival, Suck My Left One, Feels Blind, White Boy, Rebel Girl

*** for Don't Need You, Jigsaw Youth, This Is Not A Test, Outta Me

** for Thurston Hearts The Who, Resist Psychic Death, George Bush Is A Pig, I Busted In Your Chevy Window, Get Out, Why, Fuck Twin Peaks, Girl Soldier. Not Right Now