Music Monday: Ode to Riot Grrrl

How can we possibly have a music feature without honoring some of the greatest, most-groundbreaking feminist rock stars of all time?

The Riot Grrrl movement is synonymous with the Third Wave movement of the 1990's. It symbolizes a time when adolescent girls and young women were taking charge of their music - by making it.

Hardcore punk-rock had been mostly a male phenomenon. Girls were excluded from hardcore the same way they were excluded in society from many other male-only rituals, whether street gangs or USA football. The "riot grrrrls" movement of the 1990s changed the sociopolitical landscape of punk-rock by introducing the "girl factor" into the equation of frustration/ depression/ desperation/ anger. - A History of Rock and Dance Music

The artist most frequently associated with the movement is resident badass Kathleen Hanna, who apparently inspired the title for Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. Her band Bikini Kill is iconic of Riot Grrrl.

Hanna, a former exotic dancer and volunteer at a women's shelter, started writing a feminist fanzine called Bikini Kill along with fellow Evergreen College students Tobi Vail and Kathi Wilcox.

Soon they decided to form a band of the same name and enlisted guitarist Billy Boredom. The rest, as they say, is herstory.

The band is most well known for its single, "Rebel Girl":

When she talks, I hear the revolutions
In her hips, there's revolutions
When she walks, the revolution's coming
In her kiss, I taste the revolution

(Ed. note: This is a fan-made video.)

Riot Grrrl is important for many reasons. Women and girls took their place in punk music for the first time. But more significantly, the music was empowering and addressed important social issues such as domestic violence and LGBTQ rights.

Check out the Riot Grrrl manifesto and Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution, to be published in October, and, of course, a list of Riot Grrrl bands.

Music Monday: Flobots edition

The Flobots, who hail from Denver, Colorado, found mainstream success with their song, "Handlebars." I've been hooked on the Flobots ever since I learned the meaning behind the hit single:

"The lyrics came to me as I was riding a bike home from work with my hands in the air — I had just learned how to do it — and I felt triumphant, but at the same time, I knew there were people at that moment who were being bombed by our own country. And I thought that was incredibly powerful. We have these little moments of creativity, these bursts of innovation, and every time that happens, that innovation is used to oppress and destroy people. So it struck me as beautiful and tragic at the same time." - Jonny 5, MC

All of the band's songs have a really uplifting message - they all center around a theme of justice and social change. One of my favorite lines is from "The Effect:"

To sit and watch the needle peak with Mario C
Reppin' CO and 303
(Speak up, girl)
Even if it's what they're against
Do the Helen Keller and confront male arrogance

...which, of course, is a jab at fellow Coloradoan "band" 3OH!3's and their song, "Don't Trust Me."

They also have a unique sound; their music is a blend of empowering hip-hop lyrics and traditional rock instruments along with a viola (played by a woman!) and sometimes even a trumpet.

And possibly the coolest thing about the Flobots is the organization the members started, Flobots.org, which "works to create positive social change by harnessing the power of music and those who love it. We view music as a tool for therapy, community building, leadership development and action."

I went to a Flobots show a few months ago when they were on tour, and I even had the opportunity to meet some of the band members. They are some of the nicest, most down-to-earth people ever. And their show - their performance - is among the best live I've ever seen.

I highly recommend both albums, Fight with Tools and Survivor Story. Until then, check out their song, "White Flag Warrior" with Tim McIlrath of Rise Against: