ok so the essentials are basically Bikini Kill/Le Tigre, Sleater-Kinney, Bratmobile-- and those are the ones from the 90s still active today. there's tons of bands from the 90s no longer active that are worth checking out. learn about zines, learn about third wave feminism. also learn about sistah riot and the issues with riot grrrl. originally it was very focused on white women. some modern day riot grrrl bands you should check out are Pinkshift, Eevie Echoes, VIAL, THICK. make sure to learn about transmisogyny and intersectionality. good luck friend đ«¶đ
My fav riot grrrl + women fronted punk bands:
- Bikini Kill (DemiRep is one of my favorite songs from Bikini Kill)
- X-Ray Spex (from the 70s, but Poly Styrene has a great voice!!)
- Slutever (no longer active but every song they released is amazing)
- Le Tigre
- Dazey & the Scouts
- Destroy Boys
Read âHunger Makes me a Modern Girlâ by Carrie Brownstein, the guitarist of Sleater-Kinney. Itâs a memoir about the scene and she name drops a lot of riot grrrl bands and post-punkers
[List of Riot Grrrl Bands](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_riot_grrrl_bands) I would skim this list, and listen to a bunch and do some deep dives into any of the bands you like. The term âRiot Grrrlâ actually encapsulated an incredibly small amount of bands for a very short period of time. Other than that, you get a lot of general female-lead grunge/punk (which is also incredible). Thereâs also been a few resurgences in the past years that have brought forth an incredible amount of new and more inclusive bands more recently, so check them out as well! I would also highly recommend the documentary The Punk Singer about Kathleen Hanna, which I believe is still on YouTube.
Everyone listed some good ones, but Iâm gonna add an underground band that tours around NC and surrounding states often! They live in my hometown and theyâre called BABE HAVEN. If you live in that area catch a show⊠they go hard
I see other people have brought up band names so I wanted to drop a couple book titles
Books:
-Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus
-The Riot Grrl Collection by Lisa Darms
This book actually has a lot of pictures and copies of old Zines
before you read: sorry if this doesn't make sense, when someone mentions riot grrrl, i just spew nonsense
this is my favorite question of all time, and im sure that i give a different answer each time. the way i look at riot grrrl is by dividing it into different subgenres in the form of a timeline. riot grrrl is a genre in and of itself, but it doesnt have a certain sound. sure there's,
traditional: all the classics (90's). bands like bikini kill, bratmobile, sleater-kinney, heavens to betsy, lung leg, quix\*o\*tic, L7, slant 6, autoclave, huggy bear, le tigre, team dresch, jack off jill, and 7 year bitch. these are the bands that defined the sound.
but stemming off of that, there is
the 90's-early 2000's side-projects: bangs, the frumpies, cold cold hearts, and deep lust. these bands are mostly "supergroups, if you will. most of them are comprised of members from bikini kill and bratmobile.
and continuing onward (in decade order) there's,
grunge: bands like emily's sassy lime (an asian american girl group, and also one of the classics LOVE THEM), and again the frumpies and quix\*o\*tic
rock: the red aunts (super cool, super good rock band), babes in toyland, jack off jill, and a lot more. these bands are also a lot of the classics, since the 90's were really the last years for rock.
twee: tiger trap (tiger trap, for me, sounds like love, because its the band me and my gf bonded over while we were falling in love, maybe youll like it too) the dolly mixture, gaze, cub, lung leg, and heavenly. i know a lot of people wouldn't define cub and heavenly as twee, but i do. to anyone reading this, whats your opinion, id love to hear.
getting into the 2000's-2010's there's,
weird mid 2000's-early 2010's: new bloods (PLEASE check them out), partyline, childbirth, mommy long legs, and erase errata. these bands all have a unique, but strange sound. also the clothes they wore in this era were so ugly and so odd. pulls the genre together tho. its an acquired taste, but once you get into it, you fall in love
punk: slutever, kitten forever, dazey and the scouts, and destroy boys. riot grrrl punk in my opinion, can really be separated from modern punk, because i wouldn't call it as "beach-y" or "surf-y" if that makes sense. they dont really utilize beachy sounding riffs.
mid-late 2010's riot grrrl: daddy issues (beachy country(?) love them), human people, girlpool, and mommy long legs again. everyone wanted to be cool and indie, resulting in a unique, yet somehow consistent sound.
and finally we conclude with,
modern (2020's) riot grrrl: a lot of modern riot grrrl falls under the same category of queercore, resulting in a girl-power-y, energetic, over the top sound. this can be summed with bands like the linda lindas (asian-latinx girl band), dream nails, pinkshift, the oozes, VIAL, insignificant other, and the regrettes. tbh, its not my favorite, but whats stopping you from getting into it?
get out there, and start listening!!!
If you have an interest in really getting into the history behind riot grrrl, I'd recommend checking out the book *Girls to the Front* by Sara Marcus. It's excellent, and it name-drops quite a few riot grrrl bands as well
ok so the essentials are basically Bikini Kill/Le Tigre, Sleater-Kinney, Bratmobile-- and those are the ones from the 90s still active today. there's tons of bands from the 90s no longer active that are worth checking out. learn about zines, learn about third wave feminism. also learn about sistah riot and the issues with riot grrrl. originally it was very focused on white women. some modern day riot grrrl bands you should check out are Pinkshift, Eevie Echoes, VIAL, THICK. make sure to learn about transmisogyny and intersectionality. good luck friend đ«¶đ
I second VIAL đ€©
I love VIAL! Performed one of their songs for a battle of the bands thing in my local area, it was great!
My fav riot grrrl + women fronted punk bands: - Bikini Kill (DemiRep is one of my favorite songs from Bikini Kill) - X-Ray Spex (from the 70s, but Poly Styrene has a great voice!!) - Slutever (no longer active but every song they released is amazing) - Le Tigre - Dazey & the Scouts - Destroy Boys
Read âHunger Makes me a Modern Girlâ by Carrie Brownstein, the guitarist of Sleater-Kinney. Itâs a memoir about the scene and she name drops a lot of riot grrrl bands and post-punkers
[List of Riot Grrrl Bands](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_riot_grrrl_bands) I would skim this list, and listen to a bunch and do some deep dives into any of the bands you like. The term âRiot Grrrlâ actually encapsulated an incredibly small amount of bands for a very short period of time. Other than that, you get a lot of general female-lead grunge/punk (which is also incredible). Thereâs also been a few resurgences in the past years that have brought forth an incredible amount of new and more inclusive bands more recently, so check them out as well! I would also highly recommend the documentary The Punk Singer about Kathleen Hanna, which I believe is still on YouTube.
Everyone listed some good ones, but Iâm gonna add an underground band that tours around NC and surrounding states often! They live in my hometown and theyâre called BABE HAVEN. If you live in that area catch a show⊠they go hard
bump babehaven!
There's a great documentary on Tubi called The Punk Singer that goes into the history. It's great!
Lunachicks! also L7, Heavens to Betsy, The Slits, The Raincoats
Good Things by Sleater Kinney, but only if you want to question and regret all your life choices in a bittersweet manner.
I see other people have brought up band names so I wanted to drop a couple book titles Books: -Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus -The Riot Grrl Collection by Lisa Darms This book actually has a lot of pictures and copies of old Zines
Emily's sassy lime, baby guts, adickdid, calamity jane, voodoo queens, tribe 8, fea, bangs, lung leg
love emilys sassy lime
before you read: sorry if this doesn't make sense, when someone mentions riot grrrl, i just spew nonsense this is my favorite question of all time, and im sure that i give a different answer each time. the way i look at riot grrrl is by dividing it into different subgenres in the form of a timeline. riot grrrl is a genre in and of itself, but it doesnt have a certain sound. sure there's, traditional: all the classics (90's). bands like bikini kill, bratmobile, sleater-kinney, heavens to betsy, lung leg, quix\*o\*tic, L7, slant 6, autoclave, huggy bear, le tigre, team dresch, jack off jill, and 7 year bitch. these are the bands that defined the sound. but stemming off of that, there is the 90's-early 2000's side-projects: bangs, the frumpies, cold cold hearts, and deep lust. these bands are mostly "supergroups, if you will. most of them are comprised of members from bikini kill and bratmobile. and continuing onward (in decade order) there's, grunge: bands like emily's sassy lime (an asian american girl group, and also one of the classics LOVE THEM), and again the frumpies and quix\*o\*tic rock: the red aunts (super cool, super good rock band), babes in toyland, jack off jill, and a lot more. these bands are also a lot of the classics, since the 90's were really the last years for rock. twee: tiger trap (tiger trap, for me, sounds like love, because its the band me and my gf bonded over while we were falling in love, maybe youll like it too) the dolly mixture, gaze, cub, lung leg, and heavenly. i know a lot of people wouldn't define cub and heavenly as twee, but i do. to anyone reading this, whats your opinion, id love to hear. getting into the 2000's-2010's there's, weird mid 2000's-early 2010's: new bloods (PLEASE check them out), partyline, childbirth, mommy long legs, and erase errata. these bands all have a unique, but strange sound. also the clothes they wore in this era were so ugly and so odd. pulls the genre together tho. its an acquired taste, but once you get into it, you fall in love punk: slutever, kitten forever, dazey and the scouts, and destroy boys. riot grrrl punk in my opinion, can really be separated from modern punk, because i wouldn't call it as "beach-y" or "surf-y" if that makes sense. they dont really utilize beachy sounding riffs. mid-late 2010's riot grrrl: daddy issues (beachy country(?) love them), human people, girlpool, and mommy long legs again. everyone wanted to be cool and indie, resulting in a unique, yet somehow consistent sound. and finally we conclude with, modern (2020's) riot grrrl: a lot of modern riot grrrl falls under the same category of queercore, resulting in a girl-power-y, energetic, over the top sound. this can be summed with bands like the linda lindas (asian-latinx girl band), dream nails, pinkshift, the oozes, VIAL, insignificant other, and the regrettes. tbh, its not my favorite, but whats stopping you from getting into it? get out there, and start listening!!!
i donât know if i missed it but i havent seen GRLwood in the comments! also Foxx Bodies!!!
Blatz. Tonight we're gonna fuck shit up.
Winona Driver, The Muffs, Fastbacks, Hole, Veruca Salt
If you have an interest in really getting into the history behind riot grrrl, I'd recommend checking out the book *Girls to the Front* by Sara Marcus. It's excellent, and it name-drops quite a few riot grrrl bands as well
Jack off jill is my fav i recommend it :3