Pure Punk Picks
Bikini Kill – “Tell Me So”
When were women first allowed to vote in America?
June 4, 1919- just about a hundred years ago.
And if you think the anti-abortion crusade is all about religion. It’s more about the patriarchy wanting to control women’s lives.
The patriarchy is all about white men above all- and give as little or no rights to women, gays and minorities. But that will change, it’s already started and there’s not much the old men can do about it, though they’re trying. In the end, I predict they’ll fail.
Hey, Slimedog! You forget this is a music review?
Good point, but if you write about Bikini Kill without mentioning their political and social intents. How they were all about empowering women, to not only encourage them to make music but to think for themselves. And that even, if to do so, they had to fight society’s restraints, then you might be missing the whole point of this band.
And yes, they made some incredible music at the same time.
During the nineties most of the music from the Northwest grunge scene you heard was all by the “boys bands”. It was all Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney- and besides the first band, none of these bands meant much to me.
The riot grrl bands were hardly played on the radio, so though I heard Hole, (whose album “Live Through This” was my favorite of the decade) and L7. I never got a chance to hear the rest of the riot grrl bands, then, including Bikini Kill.
That changed with the advent of youtube, but I’ve only been listening to Bikini Kill for less than ten years.
But now, I consider them one of the best bands of all time with “Pussy Whipped” being my favorite album by them. Very few albums are as wild, aggressive, abrasive and uncompromisingly perfect as this one.
This album has punk, hardcore, garage, noise, industrial all in one package. They’re like a mix of X-Ray Spec, The Germs, Big Black, Sonic Youth and The Cramps!
Any song off of this album would be worthy to write about, so it was hard for me to pick, just one. I chose “Tell Me So.”
It starts with a sixties like guitar chord change with maybe a bit of funk in the rhythm, along with some awesome drone of a guitar that makes this song ominous and unique.
“Take a piece of paper…write everything down…and maybe you could know something about me. Oh, tell me so. I wanna know…If you’re gonna look at me, I am gonna get a prize.”
Maybe this song is a comment about people making judgments about you, sizing you up wrongly, that’s just a guess of mine.
But what really makes this song for me is the vocal. It starts out all cool and calm and then gets agitated and louder along the way. There’s an ebb and flow to the song that is mysterious and jolting, at the same time. And as it goes along soon the vocal becomes screeching in passionate intensity- kind of out of control, matching the wildness of one of my favorite vocals of all time- Iggy Pop & The Stooges on “Death Trip.”
This song is harrowing and exciting at the same time, which is one of my favorite feelings to feel in a song- scared and thrilled, simultaneously. “Death Valley 69” by Sonic Youth is another song that does this. “Diane” by Husker Du, too.
But rarely do I hear a vocal that is so expressive and strong as this. Or a song as good as this.
The powers that be in America have always been predominantly, white Christian males.
Who, for the most part, were and are racist, sexist, corrupt to the core- just all around assholes. Which is who mainly rules us now.
But I believe the young will call them out. That includes the young women, I believe the philosophy of riot grrl encourages you to do so.
You can say punk and riot grrl music is passé but the ideas and feeling that they aspire is anything but dead. Unlike, these old white men who will go down in history as the disgraced bullies, hypocritical psychopaths, bullshitting abusers that they always were.
Riot grrl music, in my opinion, is the best punk music after the first punk explosion of the classic bands. It captures the rawness, the freedom, the excitement and the truth of the early New York, London and yes!- Boston punk scenes.
But more importantly, a new day is dawning and I see young women at the forefront.
And if you look like me, you better run.
(Slimedog)
