Riot Grrrl was a feminist punk movement in the 1990s that is most often associated with third wave feminism. It originated in Olympia, Washington, when a group of women gathered to discuss and try to come up with a way to combat sexism in the punk scene. This resulted in a wave of punk feminist bands and music, grassroots activism, and zines. However, right now we’re going to focus on the bands and music that came out of the movement. While there were tons of different bands with differing styles and sounds that they used to spread the punk feminist message, I’m just going to highlight three of my personal faves to help guide those who may be new to the scene.
- Bikini Kill.
Bikini Kill is arguably one of the biggest bands that came out of the original Riot Grrrl movement. The band originally consisted of four members, including Kathleen Hanna (singer and songwriter), Kathi Wilcox (bassist), Tobi Vail (drummer), and Billy Karren (guitarist). Bikini Kill was responsible for one of the most popular songs from the movement, which is “Rebel Girl.” This song is a lot of people’s first interaction with the music from the movement, and it is still widely played within punk spaces to this day.
- Le Tigre
Le Tigre is often one of the first names to come up when talking about Riot Grrrl bands. They were huge on the scene. Original members of the band included Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman, and Sadie Benning. When Sadie Benning left, she was replaced by JD Samson. Now, the band Le Tigre has faced some mild controversy for participating in a trans-exclusionary event (the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival), but they have expressed support for LGBTQ+ rights repeatedly since the incident while still active as a band.
- Heavens to Betsy
Heavens to Betsy, much like Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, was one of the first-wave Riot Grrrl bands originating from Olympia, Washington. Heavens to Betsy was formed by childhood friends Corin Tucker and Tracy Sawyer. The duo got off to a massive start when they played a show with many other Riot Grrrl bands during the International Pop Underground Convention. From there, Heavens to Betsy was off like a rocket! They recorded an album, contributed to compilations, and played many live shows with other bands. Unfortunately, they disbanded in the middle of 1994, the duo stated that they had both changed when the music had gotten serious and that they lacked the maturity and communication skills to make a business relationship work.
Now, not all of these three bands are still active as full-time bands making new music, but they have all paved the way for women-led punk bands everywhere, with dozens of newer bands taking inspiration from their sounds and messages. The Riot Grrrl scene, while relatively underground, is still active if you know where to look.