From Bikini Kill to Huggy Bear to Big Joanie – everyone should know these Riot Grrrl albums.
Not in the mood for Macker: In 1991, women from Washington (the state on the Pacific) and Washington (the city on the Atlantic) met in Olympia, now a place of pilgrimage for grunge fans, to talk about sexism in their local punk scenes. The issues women and queers faced on different coasts were strikingly similar. The Riot Grrrl movement grew out of this: networking, shows, zines, discourses – and of course music. The scene was short-lived; Highly commercialized “girl power” pop soon dominated charts worldwide. But her influence remained forever – Revolution Girl Style Now!
The founders
Bikini Kill – Pussy Whipped (1993)
Of course, “Rebel Girl” outshines everything. But it would be a shame to overlook the rest of the album – and, frankly, the rest of Bikini Kill’s slim output. Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail and Kathi Wilcox write collaboratively and also change positions in the band at the shows they are playing again today. Dissolving hierarchies, rethinking the band concept and inspiring FLINTA* people to make music themselves: The REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW – the band’s slogan and the title of their first cassette – went far beyond the content of the lyrics. A classic that remains fresh to this day, just like their later work REJECT ALL AMERICAN.
Six stars
Sleater-Kinney – Dig Me Out (1997)
Is DIG ME OUT really still a Riot Grrrl album, or was it released too late to fall under the banner? It doesn’t matter: The band of Carrie Brownstein (previously Excuse 17, then Portlandia and Hollywood) and Corin Tucker (previously Heavens To Betsy) as well as various drummers is one of the most important bands in the movement, and DIG ME OUT marked their international breakthrough. They would hardly be able to surpass the acclaimed success of CALL THE DOCTOR – or so the critics thought. Far from it: DIG ME OUT is still a feminist classic today. After a ten-year break, Sleater-Kinney has been releasing new albums regularly since 2015.
Six stars
Bratmobile – Pottymouth (1993)
DIY culture meets B-52’s meets rage: In a fair world, Bratmobiles would have the same pop culture status as the Sex Pistols. Since we live in patriarchy, Bratmobile remain a favorite band for those in the know – and that’s okay. They released five albums until 2002, in between there was a legendary breakup in the middle of the stage, Heartbreak and everything else that goes with the life of a punk band. It’s easy to debate which album is their best – for me it’s the raw, unprocessed sound of POTTYMOUTH.
Five stars
Heavens To Betsy – Calculated (1994)
Racism, sexism, body shaming, rape culture, queerness, sexualized violence: Founded by childhood friends Corin Tucker and Tracy Sawyer, Heavens To Betsy was one of the central bands of the movement – at least until they split up in the year in which their only “official” album was released. Featuring Tucker’s unique vocals, CALCULATED’s songs still hit extraordinarily hard over 30 years later.
Five and a half stars
Team Dresch – Personal Best (1995)
Queercore forever: Team Dresch is the queer-feminist answer to the 90s hardcore. The opener “Fagetarian & Dyke” from their debut album PERSONAL BEST is still one of the best post-hardcore songs of all time.
Five stars
The Brits
Huggy Bear – Taking The Rough With The Smooch (1993)
Riot Grrrl was not a phenomenon limited to the US Pacific Northwest and perhaps Washington DC – young feminists in Great Britain also took to the amplifiers in anger. Above all, the mixed-gender Huggy Bear, who were only active for three years. During this time they released an album and a number of singles, including one with Bikini Kill. TAKING THE ROUGH WITH THE SMOOCH brings together all these B-sides, singles and EP songs: a magnificent collection of punk diamonds in the rough.
Four and a half stars
The non-riot grrrls
Hole – Live Through This (1994)
She is NOT a Riot Grrrl! Even though Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna was friends with her husband Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love never had much to do with the Riot Grrrl movement. It’s too cute, too uniform – and when she was working on the second Hole album, she didn’t want to make another punk record like everyone else. She was accused of being a sellout – which left the opinionated musician unmoved. LIVE THROUGH THIS was a success, both commercially and critically, and remains a classic of feminist pop culture, Riot Grrrl or not.
Five stars
The foremothers
The Slits – Cut (1979)
What can be told about her that hasn’t been told yet? The band of Ari Up, Palmolive, Viv Albertine and changing members – including Neneh Cherry – was the first women’s punk band. CUT is a spiky mix of punk, reggae and influences from all over the world.
Four stars
X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolescence (1978)
Poly Styrene forever! Besides Siouxsie Sioux and Kim Gordon, hardly any other artist has influenced the Riot Grrrls as much as the singer from X-Ray Spex. As a black woman and eternal misfit, she paved the way. GERM FREE ADOLESCENCE expanded punk to include the saxophone and exuberant joie de vivre.
Four stars
The follow-up project
Le Tigre – Le Tigre (1999)
After Bikini Kill and a solo excursion under the pseudonym Julie Ruin – in 2010 it would become a whole band, together with Bikini Kill colleague Kathi Wilcox – Kathleen Hanna was in the mood for a different sound: electronic dance-punk with Sixties charm and indietronica vibe. “Hot Topic” and “Deceptacon” are songs for eternity, and the themes – for example on “What’s YR Take On Cassavetes”, the question of how one looks at the work of problematic artists – are still relevant today.
Five stars
The heirs
Big Joanie – Back Home (2022)
It’s not without reason that Bikini Kill hired the London band Big Joanie to support their reunion tour in 2019: The queer-feminist, anti-racist and power-critical band is not only politically stable, but has developed its own sound over the years – on the second album somewhere between DIY (post-) punk and synthpop, with influences from alternative rock and R&B. Above all, it shows how feminist punk of the nineties can be consistently rethought, especially with regard to its gaps in aspects such as race and gender diversity. The whole thing also sounds incredibly good.
Five stars
Peaches – No Lube, So Rude (2026)
Riot Grrrl’s not dead! Neither does the Kill Rock Stars label, which continues to release exciting music today – such as Peaches’ first album since 2015. The themes: lust, love and getting older. The right album at the right time.
Five stars