Wanna Start a Rrriot?

When I was going through my "teenage angst-ridden" years there was always one band that stuck by my side. It was in fact this one band that opened my mind to the amazing world of Alternative Rock and all things surrounding it. Who was that, you ask? None other but the troubled likes of Nirvana. I was so hooked. And as a "true fan" I'll tell you, Smells Like Teen Spirit was nothing compared to all the other powerful music they shared with me. I was a die-hard 90's kid, wishing I could've been born just a few years earlier.

But that's just it; As I dove deeper into Kurt Cobain's mesmerizing and troubling melodies, I really found myself identifying with him. I felt a part of my misunderstood spirit in his gut-wrenching vocals. But were there other female musicians I could relate to? And why hadn't that thought been a more pressing issue to me?

Aside from Cobain's open feminine characteristics, there was nothing more about the band that yelled, "Girl Power" to me. So why did I relate so well to them?

Could it possibly have anything to do with the Riot Grrrl movement? Does that even ring a bell to anyone?


This lovely morning I came across a rather interesting article about one of the founders, if not THE main voice of this movement: An all-girl punk group by the name of Bikini Kill.

As you will read in the article, Bikini Kill's journey was not an easy one and eventually the band did break up with hardly any monetary profit to their name. They were a punk group and their do-it-yourself philosophy could not lead to much more than that.

 Photo Courtesy of: http://anarchyofpunk.blogspot.com

Listening to Bikini Kill now, I want to smack myself on the head. Clearly, Kurt was influenced by them. (Now that I think of it, I do remember him writing about them in his infamous journals.) They sang about rape, empowerment, and sexuality among other things. They were a tough group of girls with very real issues in their lyrics and a very "kick-ass" delivery, if I may.

Here are some lyrics from one of their songs titled: Double Dare Ya

You're a big girl now
You've got no reason not to fight
You've got to know what they are
Fore you can stand up for your rights
Rights, rights?
You DO have rights

The article was a refreshing read and an interesting take on the tools these female musicians used to get their message across. But as the story goes, the original community of people that would welcome this opinionated group would eventually swallow them up. Bikini Kill was an angry group, and rightly so, they had a message they needed to get across and being "sweet" about it wasn't going to get them anywhere. You can read more about this in the article.

So my question here is: Who remembers, let alone, KNOWS anything about this movement or other female musicians in this movement? It may have been short-lived but can we say it made any kind of impact in the world we see today? And do we find any current musicians embodying any of Bikini Kill's powerful ideals and music today?