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| Pictured: Lydia Night from The Regrettes / Picture source: Gabrielle Ernst |
The other week I saw a headline that made me laugh. It went something like, 'The Regrettes are the new Riot Grrrl band you should listen to!' I was just baffled. When I think of Riot Grrrl I think of punk shows, community, and activism. My first instinct was to criticise the article on Twitter and specifically The Regrettes for embracing that title, but a day passed and I started doubting my words. I started thinking about the main roles of Riot Grrrl and tried to distinguish the difference between them and Riot Grrrl-inspired bands.
According to this idea, The Regrettes would be a Riot Grrrl-inspired band, as they've mentioned that their influences are bands like Hole and Bikini Kill, plus, the lyrics to their song 'Picture Perfect' could be the lyrics to a Riot Grrrl song from the nineties. I don't blame people for associating them as a band with Riot Grrrl, but I don't think it is right to consider them a Riot Grrrl band. They are slightly activist, they encourage their fans to vote and criticise politicians, but I don't feel like their activism is renewing or radical.
Bands in the original movement fought for a safe space at punk shows for women and people of colour. This was radical and shook the scene. I don't think that a band telling their listeners to vote is radical, artists have been doing this from time to time. Besides, I have trouble with considering The Regrettes a punk band, especially since the release of their extremely-poppy-and-absurdly-less-feminist-than-their-first-album second album, 'How Do You Love?' There are definitely punk influences in their music but that does not make them punk.
Another thing I had to think about is that the Riot Grrrl movement was very DIY. Everything was DIY and about changing your local scene. The Regrettes are signed to a major label (Warner Bros.) which makes it impossible to consider them even slightly DIY. But, despite all of this, I'm not the person who gets to decide whether a band is Riot Grrrl or not.
Bands in the original movement fought for a safe space at punk shows for women and people of colour. This was radical and shook the scene. I don't think that a band telling their listeners to vote is radical, artists have been doing this from time to time. Besides, I have trouble with considering The Regrettes a punk band, especially since the release of their extremely-poppy-and-absurdly-less-feminist-than-their-first-album second album, 'How Do You Love?' There are definitely punk influences in their music but that does not make them punk.
Another thing I had to think about is that the Riot Grrrl movement was very DIY. Everything was DIY and about changing your local scene. The Regrettes are signed to a major label (Warner Bros.) which makes it impossible to consider them even slightly DIY. But, despite all of this, I'm not the person who gets to decide whether a band is Riot Grrrl or not.
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| Pictured: Kelli Mayo from Skating Polly / Picture source: Taylor Nettnin |
When the movement first started, there were little to no women in punk music and there weren't many in rock music either. That's relative though, but these women in punk and rock were always a very specific type of person: they were 'pretty' and sang their songs, but overall kept their mouths shut. Riot Grrrl completely changed this. Women were openly speaking their minds and they purposely dressed unconventionally or wore their makeup 'ugly'. Nowadays it is not that weird for women to be in bands, and speaking their minds isn't frowned upon at all, so Riot Grrrl definitely made a large impact.
Riot Grrrl was a movement about equality within the punk scene. They achieved this goal if you look at the male-to-female ratio within bands and crowds, but of course, they did not achieve this completely. But isn't striving towards equality inherently punk?
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| Pictured: Bikini Kill / Picture source: Pitchfork |
Riot Grrrl was mainly about equality for women in that specific scene. So I would argue that a band who is political and feminist is not necessarily Riot Grrrl, but rather just punk. I'm not saying Riot Grrrl is dead, but I do think that the movement is. They achieved what they were going for, and now it has become easier for people of any gender to be involved in the music scene. Riot Grrrl nowadays isn't about fighting for change, it is about speaking your mind and being yourself. I think this goes for punk music nowadays in general.
Nearly every band stands for being yourself unapologetically and some of them may talk about hating Trump, but no-one is actively fighting for change. Okay, 'no-one' is an overstatement. Bands like SWMRS actively use their platform to talk about climate change, and bands like IDLES teach their predominantly male audiences about feminism, but even in punk, it is becoming rare.
Punk does still have its sense of community, but there are barely any active Riot Grrrl communities, not even in Olympia or Washington where it all started. The only place where the scene slightly seems to be alive is London. Bands like The Menstrual Cramps, Dream Nails, Peach Club, and The Tuts are the leaders in this scene and it is rapidly growing. Organisations like Loud Women and Girls Rock London actively organise events and keep the community alive. Yes, the bands are political, but not radically, so would it be fair to call them Riot Grrrl? Or should I say that they are Riot Grrrl-inspired? I honestly do not know how to define Riot Grrrl anymore - maybe The Regrettes are a Riot Grrrl band after all. Maybe we need to write a new or an extended Riot Grrrl manifesto.
In conclusion, many things have changed and it is hard to approach the nineties movement in a structuralist manner. Maybe I should just embrace the fact that every band with womxn who are slightly political is going to be called Riot Grrrl. I'd rather live with that than Riot Grrrl becoming extinct.
Punk does still have its sense of community, but there are barely any active Riot Grrrl communities, not even in Olympia or Washington where it all started. The only place where the scene slightly seems to be alive is London. Bands like The Menstrual Cramps, Dream Nails, Peach Club, and The Tuts are the leaders in this scene and it is rapidly growing. Organisations like Loud Women and Girls Rock London actively organise events and keep the community alive. Yes, the bands are political, but not radically, so would it be fair to call them Riot Grrrl? Or should I say that they are Riot Grrrl-inspired? I honestly do not know how to define Riot Grrrl anymore - maybe The Regrettes are a Riot Grrrl band after all. Maybe we need to write a new or an extended Riot Grrrl manifesto.
In conclusion, many things have changed and it is hard to approach the nineties movement in a structuralist manner. Maybe I should just embrace the fact that every band with womxn who are slightly political is going to be called Riot Grrrl. I'd rather live with that than Riot Grrrl becoming extinct.
Article by: Cyan
