Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group originally consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the riot grrrl movement, with feminist lyrics and fiery performances. Their music is characteristically abrasive and hardcore-influenced. After two full-length albums, several EPs and two compilations, they disbanded in 1997. The band reunited for tours in 2019 and 2022, with Erica Dawn Lyle on guitar in place of Karren.
Kathleen Hanna is an American singer, musician and pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. In the early-to-mid-1990s, she was the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill, and then fronted the electronic rock band Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since 2010, she has recorded as The Julie Ruin.
Tobi Celeste Vail is an American independent musician, music critic and feminist activist from Olympia, Washington. She was a central figure in the riot grrl scene—she coined the spelling of "grrl"—and she started the zine Jigsaw. A drummer, guitarist and singer, she was a founding member of the band Bikini Kill. Vail has collaborated in several other bands figuring in the Olympia music scene. Vail writes for eMusic.
Le Tigre is an American electronic rock and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. They mixed punk's directness and politics with playful samples, eclectic pop, and lo-fi electronics. Like with many bands in and from the riot grrrl movement, many of the lyrics addressed feminist themes and ideas. The group also added multimedia and performance art elements to their live shows, which often featured support from like-minded acts such as the Need.
Julie Ruin is the debut solo album by Kathleen Hanna, released on September 29, 1998, through Kill Rock Stars. She recorded the album in 1997 whilst taking a break from Bikini Kill. Hanna recalled:
[It] was made as Bikini Kill was in breaking up, a guy who worked across the street from my apartment building was stalking me and I was being treated, in my own community, like a historical oddity. The solo record helped me remember that I was just a fucking person who liked being creative.
The Singles is a compilation album of three singles by punk rock band Bikini Kill. The album was released in 1998 by Kill Rock Stars. Joan Jett produces, plays guitar and sings on the first three tracks. In 2018, Bikini Kill reissued the album on CD and 12" vinyl.
Le Tigre is the debut studio album of American music trio Le Tigre. It was released October 25, 1999, on Mr. Lady Records. The album combined pop music with the band's feminist political lyrics. It received positive reviews from music critics.
This Island is the third and most recent album by American dance-punk band Le Tigre. It was released by Universal Records on October 19, 2004. The album was the band's only one for a major label and reached number 130 on the Billboard 200. As of 2008, the album had sold 90,000 copies.
Pussy Whipped is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Bikini Kill. It was released on Kill Rock Stars on October 26, 1993.
Kathi Lynn Wilcox is an American musician. She is the bass player in Bikini Kill and guitar player in the Casual Dots. She was also a member of the Julie Ruin and the Frumpies.
Bikini Kill is the first EP by the American punk rock band Bikini Kill led by singer Kathleen Hanna. The six-song vinyl EP was released in 1992 on Kill Rock Stars. It was produced by Fugazi's Ian MacKaye. In 1994, the EP was released on CD together with the Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah EP under the name The CD Version of the First Two Records.
Pure and Simple is the ninth studio album by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, released in 1994. The album includes several tracks co-written with Kathleen Hanna, including "Go Home", a response to the murder of Mia Zapata.
"Rebel Girl" is a song by American punk rock band Bikini Kill. The song was released in three different recorded versions in 1993 – on an EP, an LP, and a 7-inch single. The single version was produced by Joan Jett and features her on guitar and background vocals. Widely considered a classic example of punk music, the song remains emblematic of the riot grrrl movement of the 1990s. In 2021, "Rebel Girl" was listed at number 296 on the updated list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement that combines feminism, punk music, and politics, it is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as having grown out of the riot grrrl movement and has recently been seen in fourth-wave feminist punk music that rose in the 2010s. The genre has also been described as coming out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a movement in which women could express anger, rage, and frustration, emotions considered socially acceptable for male songwriters but less commonly for women.
La Sera is an American indie rock band formed by Katy Goodman, the bassist for Vivian Girls, in 2010. They have released four albums and toured internationally.
Run Fast is the debut album by The Julie Ruin, released on September 3, 2013.
The Punk Singer is a 2013 documentary film about feminist singer Kathleen Hanna who fronted the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, and who was a central figure in the riot grrrl movement. Directed by filmmaker Sini Anderson and produced by Anderson and Tamra Davis, the film's title is taken from the Julie Ruin song "The Punk Singer", from Hanna's 1998 solo effort.
Sannhet is an American experimental metal band from Brooklyn, New York, United States. The band formed in 2010 by John Refano, Christopher Todd, and AJ Annunziata. They have released three full-length albums as well as a variety of EPs and singles which were collected together and released in their 2016 compilation album Young Death. Sannhet has become known for their elaborate live shows which combine their "dense" sound with lights, projected visualizations and rhythm-synced strobes. They are an instrumental band with a sound that combines black metal, sludge metal, and shoegaze with the structures and orders of post-rock and post-punk, though unlike other bands with similar influences, they tend to favor shorter song structures.
Hit Reset is the second studio album by The Julie Ruin. It was released on July 8, 2016, on the Hardly Art label.
"I'm with Her" is a song by American electroclash trio Le Tigre, released on October 19, 2016. It is the band's first single in eleven years following "After Dark" in 2005. The song was released as a one-off single in support of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and her unsuccessful 2016 Presidential campaign. The song also takes swipes at the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who would be elected President of the United States two weeks after the song's release. The song's title was a campaign slogan for Clinton.
