By Kourtney Gierke, Contributor

It is a rite of passage for a lot of teen girls to go down a rabbit hole of exploring the feminist-punk genre known as “riot grrrl.” Like many girls across the globe, I discovered riot grrrl as an angsty middle schooler, and the music affirmed my feminist viewpoints at 13. Not only is riot grrrl a music genre, it’s an entire movement that combines music with social change. Protests and political “zines” came to be the musical movement and left us with some of the greatest punk we have today.

Riot grrrl was born in the early 90s in the small Pacific Northwest city of Olympia, Washington. As the history of the origin is passed down through the years, it starts to sound more like folklore of a historical movement. It was formed by a small, unknown group of college girls at The Evergreen State College who wanted to riot against sexism in the punk scene. By holding meetings, they discussed issues and focused on “cultural production” where they made DIY physical media – zines, cassette tapes, 45s and CDs – to create something for their movement. 

Through this, we saw the emergence of riot grrrl as a genre. Focusing on third wave feminist topics such as sexual assault, discrimination and eating disorders, riot grrrl combined political activism with loud, heavy guitars and screaming lyrics. Although some bands in the 90s centered their lyrics on anti-racist viewpoints, riot grrrl is often criticized for its blatant lack of intersectionality and inclusion in the movement. Key riot grrrl bands began to emerge, including the iconic Bikini Kill, Bratmobile and Sleater-Kinney, to name a few. Although each band had their own unique sound, it was all centered around a desire for equality.

As the movement sparked its popularity outside of Olympia, riot grrrl became more than an underground grassroots genre. K Records released riot grrrl singles on cassettes called International Pop Underground and eventually held a convention called “Love Rock Revolution Girl-Style Now,” featuring Olympia’s greatest riot grrrls. At the convention, Bikini Kill and its frontwoman Kathleen Hanna performed, which originated the iconic opening to “Double Dare Ya” where Hanna proclaimed, “We’re Bikini Kill, and we want revolution! Girl-style now!” Bikini Kill is often known as the trailblazer of the movement, with iconic tracks like “Rebel Girl,” “Feels Blind” and “New Radio.”

Bikini Kill would later split up, and Hanna would form Le Tigre in the late 90s. With less of a raw and heavy guitar sound, Le Tigre shifted its focus to more electronic sounds. While they are most known for the hit “Deceptacon,” they also released hits like “Mediocrity Rules” and “Eau D’bedroom Dancing.”

You can thank Bratmobile for some of the catchiest songs of the movement, including “Gimme Brains” and “Cool Schmool.” Members Allison Wolfe, Erin Smith and Molly Neuman started making zines at the University of Oregon. As the movement shifted to be more musical, the three picked up their instruments with almost no experience and started to learn how to play. It wasn’t about the quality or musicianship for a lot of bands, it was the musical message they had to spread.

My personal favorite band to emerge from the riot grrrl scene is Sleater-Kinney. The band has a star lineup of Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein as both guitarists and vocalists, with the insanely talented drummer Janet Weiss, who left in 2019. The band formed in Olympia in 1994 after Tucker’s departure from the preceding riot grrrl band Heavens to Betsy and was named after a Washington street sign. Sleater-Kinney combined upbeat punk songs like the critically acclaimed “Dig Me Out” with slower and heartfelt feminist-themed songs such as “Modern Girl.” 

With a career extending nearly three decades and 11 albums, Sleater Kinney became one of the most well recognized riot grrrl bands. They released Little Rope earlier this year as their eleventh studio album. Despite commercial success, Tucker and Brownstein maintained the key riot grrrl values, focusing on feminism and paving the way for queer artists in the 90s.

Some honorable mentions for other 90s riot grrrl and riot grrrl-adjacent bands include Babes in Toyland, with songs like “Sweet ‘69” and “Bruise Violet.” Although one of the heavier sounding bands, their music was less focused on social issues and more on the sound. L7 is another great band with hits “Shitlist.” Hole’s Live Through This is a widely cherished album, including the song “Rock Star” that makes fun of the riot grrrl movement in Olympia. Nevertheless, Hole’s “Violet” and “Doll Parts” are equally riot-y and feminist focused. Other bands, like Veruca Salt, The Breeders and No Doubt are female fronted bands from the 90s and often get grouped with the movement. 

As riot grrrl expanded to listeners worldwide, bigger record labels signed artists, including Kill Rock Stars, which also signed popular indie artist Elliot Smith. Compilation albums like IPU continued and helped popularize the movement. But with popularity comes mainstream misinterpretation of the movement. Even though riot grrrl pioneered the phrase “girl power,” it became misconstrued outside of the punk and feminism ideologies.

So was that the end of the riot grrrl era? Some would argue modern music lacks the rawness and punk factor that defines the movement. Still, bands like Mannequin Pussy, Slutever and Destroy Boys carry on the riot grrrl revolution with feminist focused rock that echoes the same values from the 90s. The Regrettes pretty similarly mirror the riot grrrl movement with songs like “Seashore.” Even artists like Olivia Rodrigo note riot grrrl as an influence, shown in her songs “brutal” and “all-american bitch.” Kathleen Hanna praised Rodrigo for her riot grrrl influences in her songs. So, even if the riot grrrl movement may be dead in the same way the 90s are, the influences and ideas created from a group of college students in Olympia really did start a revolution.