Riot Grrrl

There are different thoughts and opinions as to when exactly riot grrrl was formed, and what it can acurately be described as. Most agree that riot grrrl was born out of the punk movement. A broad definition would be to say that riot grrrl was a feminist type movement (although they did not see themselves that way), which stamped out equality and created a do-it- yourself type subculture through the organising and supporting of other females, and giving themselves a voice. The aggressive nature which typifies most peoples definitions is responsible for the spelling change in the world girl to make it appear more agressive and demanding. Once the subculture became mainstream, and magazines were featuring stories on bands or females and labelling them with the title of 'riot grrrl', there was a step away from this, and the riot grrrl music scene as it was pretty much faded into oblivion. Riot grrrl as a subculture however, still seems alive an well through the use of the internet. A google search on riot grrrl produces over 600,000 pages, and a lot of these pages all feature message boards, online zines or chats to allow riot grrrls (and riot bois which a few of them welcome also) to converse around the world.

Live Through This - HOLE

Holes 'Live Through This' was released four days after Kurt Cobain was found dead. It is a particulary short album, playing for around 38 minutes in total. Since the bands riot grrrl debut 'Pretty On The Inside' the songwriting has come a long way, pretty much all of the songs still feature lots of yelling and screaming, a trademark of riot grrrl and expression of anger, but in a more structured way than in 'Pretty on the Inside', the songs sound much more refined yet still raw. This could be seen in two different ways, one it could be the advancements and progressments of the band and their writing, or two it could be a move towards being a bit more commercial. The second option at the time seemed out of the question, but it was only four years later that the commercially successful 'Celebrity Skin' was released. The track "I Think That I Would Die" was co-written with Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland, who are often heralded as being leaders in the riot grrrl movement. The albums last track, "Olympia", which is printed as "Rock Star" on album covers but was later changed after the covers were printed due to the fear of legal problems, is about Olympia, Washington, where riot grrrl was born, and criticizing the people there and their narrowminded ways. The album also features the successful tracks 'Violet', which apparently targets Smashing Pumpkins Billy Corgan, 'Miss World' and 'Doll Parts', released after the death of bassist Kristen Pfaff. 'Live Through This' is short but great and demonstrates the bands progression whilst still being a part, whether they liked it or not, of the riot grrrl culture.

here we go....

ok, so considering I made this blog a month ago trying to get a head start on the blog and the essay (which obviously I also knew at the time would never happen), I thought I'd better write something. I have nothing to report, but i figured something is better than nothing, even if it is a whole load of crap. On a brighter note, I saw Sneaky Sound System the other night, and that was good, although not related to my essay topic whatsoever. So with my essay I plan on (which of course will not happen) starting it tomorrow, so we will see how that goes....

Ok....I've been waiting to have a look at other peoples blogs to see if Im doing this properly, but I cant find any so I'll give it a go...so if anyone found this blog and thought I knew what I was doing so they could maybe see what to do...I wouldn't count on it...as I have no idea...but I can tell you what I do know... my blog is named after the 1991 indie music festival International Pop Underground Convention, which had an all girls bill on the first night called Love Rock Revolution Girl Style Now which is pretty much signalled as a first major step in the riot grrrl movement. It was this night that so many people who had previously known each other only through zines finally all were brought together by this night of all girl music which was entirely dedicated to all girls. Bands that played included 7 Year Bitch, Bratmobile and Suture, which featured Kathleen Hanna and Sharon Cheslow, who was originally in DC's first all girl punk band Chalk Circle.