Bikini Kill

Reject All American (Kill Rock Stars)
by Cunt Rock Girl

“Oh, for joy!” I shouted when Bikini Kill‘s new CD was bestowed upon me. Yet I dreaded the moment when I would have to listen to and review it. Why the anxiety? I mean, they are my kick-ass feminist idols, right? My fear was of being disappointed; either that BK had turned into a treacly, girly-pop group or that they had “hardened” themselves into oblivion. Or that they were just plain boring.

Thankfully, they tore my fears to shreds. All the turmoil of being a girl (Am I a slut for wanting him? Why do I have to be pretty? Why do I have to pretend as if I’m Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club?) is still there, and BK still offers no easy answers. The goose-pimpled rage of the songs and the sadness tucked between them still exists, but what’s different is who’s singing. Tobi, usually the drummer, and Kathi, usually the bassist, sing their own songs, adding new textures: Tobi’s voice being rough and Kathi’s sultry (I especially enjoyed the quiet “False Start”). Also, on about half the songs, the chorus is done in unison with all three girls shouting it (including singer Kathleen, not including guitarist Bill), which gives the songs a frantic punch underscored by Bill’s speed-demon playing and drumming by Tobi that resembles an over-caffeinated secretary at a manual typewriter (see “Reject All American”). The song “Finale” explains BK’s creed best: “We’re the girls with bad reputations/We’re the girls gonna make you pay/ (repeat first line)/We are gonna have our say.” Eat that, unbelievers of the Revolution!