BIKINI KILL: THE CD VERSION OF THE FIRST TWO RECORDS (1992; 1994)
1) Double Dare Ya; 2) Liar; 3)
Carnival; 4) Suck My Left One; 5) Feels Blind; 6) Thurston Hearts The Who; 7)
White Boy; 8) This Is Not A Test; 9) Don't Need You; 10) Jigsaw Youth; 11)
Resist Psychic Death; 12) Rebel Girl; 13) Outta Me.
«Bikini Kill are activists, not musicians», as
a passionate, but somewhat ambiguously disposed female person tells us, among
other impressions of the band, in the spoken overdub on ʽThurston Hearts The
Whoʼ, and, frankly speaking, I was not even sure whether it was worth tackling
this band in the first place — because, well, it is pretty hard to deny that
Kathleen Hanna and her band of Amazon warriors use music primarily, if not
exclusively, as a «sociopolitical tool», trying as hard as possible not to
stoop to thinking about it as a value in itself. But then, what the heck? They
only have had a few albums out, and some of the songs are fun, and when you
deal with punk music, it takes a real brain surgeon to understand where «music»
ends and «activism» begins. And besides, in my collection they are probably
the closest thing to Pussy Riot, a «band» that has even less musical substance
(at least Bikini Kill have a vague understanding of how to play their
instruments) but for which I have actually gotten review requests — so, since I
am never ever going to review Pussy Riot, why not say a few words on Bikini
Kill instead?
So, in a nutshell: Bikini Kill are the spearheaders
of the «Riot Grrrl» movement (that's three
r's, right? don't forget to check your spelling every time), an aggressive (thankfully,
non-lethal so far) punk-feminist current in music and performance art which
many people have heard of, but few can identify by any names of its
representatives — in fact, some of the less politically minded, but more
commercially popular or critically applauded bands (such as Hole or Babes In
Toyland) have also been dubbed «Riot Grrrl» by the unsuspecting, deeply confused
masses. Well, finally, here are Bikini Kill, and they are the real thing.
Describing the band's sound is not particularly
difficult, since they never worked hard at putting any unique stamp on it. A standard
4-piece band with a rhythm section, one guitar player, and one vocalist. The
guitar player (Billy Karren) is surprisingly male (it is not known if the other
girls ever referred to him as «our bitch») and may have been hired as a
political gesture (to show that «radical feminism» does not imply cessation of
interaction with the other sex), or, more likely, because, deep down in their
hearts, they all secretly admit that girls are pussies and that no girl can
ever play a real mean PUNK RAWK guitar. (There was no Avril Lavigne back in
those days, you understand). Anyway, it's not as if Billy himself were all
that great — he has mastered the Ramones and the Dead Kennedys bag of guitar
tricks all right, but there is really nothing here, musically, that you
wouldn't find on a bunch of classic punk and hardcore punk records from the
previous decade and a half.
The vocalist is a whole other thing, but
enjoying her vocals is certainly an acquired taste if there ever was one —
Kathleen Hanna has one of those battle cries you'd expect to hear from a particularly
nasty old harpy: sharp, high-pitched, nasal, nails-on-chalkboard type that rips
the living flesh right out of your ears. Her real voice, as you hear it in
interviews, is kind of grating, too, but she intentionally makes it sound even
nastier on record, so that it resonates with extreme «bratty» nastiness. Not a
bawl or a banshee wail or a masculine epic-warrior thing, just this really ugly
«nyah-nyah-nyah» soundwave to which you have to get yourself attuned real
quick, or you will be climbing up the wall in no time. But Hanna's voice is the essence of Bikini Kill — in a
way, that voice is the message, not
to mention that you will most likely not be able to get the verbal message anyway,
not without a lyrics sheet.
The album in question, true to the name, puts
together some of the first samples of Bikini Kill's recorded output — the EP Bikini Kill and the first side of a
split LP that they shared with Huggy Bear (a «para-riot-grrrl» band from the
UK), both originally released in 1992. The sound, as is easy to guess, is
delightfully / disgustingly lo-fi, with one exception: ʽRebel Girlʼ, the
loudest, «cleanest», and arguably best-known Bikini Kill song of all time, not
just because it is so easily identifiable as an anthem, but also because it is
their catchiest and poppiest, where their female-Neanderthal approach takes a
little grooming and the whole thing sounds like a tribute to The Troggs. As
crude as the lyrics are ("they say she's a dyke, but I know she is my best
friend" —what's that «but» supposed to mean???), the tune is a fun one,
and at least the guitars are raw enough to count it as «the real thing». It may
be silly-punk, but it ain't faux-punk.
As for everything else, well, if you are big on
recycled, but honest, punk aesthetics, you might like most of this — Billy has
a good grip on that old legacy, pilfering from punk greats for all they're
worth on tracks like ʽLiarʼ and ʽResist Psychic Deathʼ, but much of the time
he's just providing an information-free wall of chainsaw buzz (ʽSuck My Left
Oneʼ, ʽDon't Need Youʼ), which leaves us with little to do other than
concentrate on Hanna and her little fits of girl-power rage. Sometimes she
really goes over the top ("eat meat, hate blacks, beat your fuckin' wife —
it's all connected" — not a highly scientific viewpoint, if you ask me),
but at least the sincerity of her actions cannot be denied, even if the
crudeness and banality of her denouncements can be a turnoff (ʽWhite Boyʼ — a point-blank
range hit at sexism that, for some reason, also implicates the race issue, but
how is raping a «slut rocker bitch walking down the street» an offense particularly
typical of a «white boy»? Isn't that confusing the issues a little? Then again,
there has rarely been a band on Earth more confused than Bikini Kill. Maybe
they are musicians after all).
A few of the tracks are just sonic hooliganry
with a sneer, such as ʽThurston Hearts The Whoʼ, where the already mentioned
spoken overdub is superimposed over a noisy, mock-avantgarde track — the
primary message here being: "if you think Sonic Youth is cool and you
think that they think that you're not that cool, does that mean everything to
you?" Ridiculing Sonic Youth is a respectable position, the problem being
that it's not as if they were offering a hell of a lot in exchange. But at
least it is good to know that aggressive feminism is not the only thing that Hanna and her sisters
are interested in.
If only at least a couple more songs here were
like ʽRebel Girlʼ, I might even have gone ahead with a thumbs up. As it is, the
compilation is an important cultural artefact, and an acknowledged influence on
«rebel girls» around the world, but too much of it is boring, and too much of
it is grating on the nerves, to call it a consistently «fun» listening
experience. If you find yourself in need of a spiritual awakening, be their
guest. If, however, you are not one of those «white boys» casually referring to
«slut rocker bitches» in your everyday life, you might want to listen to
something more musically oriented instead.
A big point of third-wave feminism is that race, gender, and class are all interconnected as points of oppression and it is the rich, white male who is in power and not doing anything about changing the patriarchy. Hence the "confusing" line in "White Boy."
ReplyDelete"White boy, don't laugh, don't cry, just die! / I'm so sorry if I'm alienating some of you / Your whole fucking culture alienates me"
DeleteYou may think this is "making a big point"; I think the crudeness and violence of lines such as these make it difficult for anyone to claim a high moral ground.
I believe DominEl was simply saying that the big point FROM THE POINT OF VIEW of third wave feminism is what he said, not a propagation of it. But please, feel free to stay on your high horse and perpetuate the harmful perspective that analyzing something means you agree with it.
ReplyDeleteLook, I and my horse agree with your general point, for what it's worth. Still, it sounded to me as if the previous poster wasn't so much analysing as defending the lyrics, which I believe are pretty indefensible.
Delete