I remember I had this art teacher in 6th grade who gave us an assignment to make a music zine. Being the lame little kid I was, I had no idea what that was, let alone the scene it was associated with. I just thought it was a stupid excuse to make us fold paper and carve really crappy block stamps. I can’t be sure but I bet mine was filled with Limp Bizkit lyrics or some stupid shit like that. Later on in high school, when my room was plastered in Sleater-Kinney posters, it suddenly occurred to me that that teacher was really fucking cool.

I have a very special place in my heart for Riot Grrrl culture. I attribute it with introducing me to great music beyond what was on top of the charts. But I also understand that, as I was in preschool for essentially all of Riot Grrrl’s short time as a cohesive and active movement, there’s certain aspects of it that I do not, and cannot understand. My view of it’s history was through decidedly rose-colored glasses, defined mostly by my rabid devotion to the music. I had deified the whole movement, blaming it’s downfall entirely on mainstream media, and essentially assuming the girls involved could basically do no wrong.

Girl Germs was a zine by Allison Wolfe and Molly Neuman of Bratmobile

I guess I knew that I was misinformed, or rather under-informed, but what was I supposed to do? All I knew was from the music. liner notes, and the collection of old zines I would flip through in my local record store. There was no accurate or complete history of the who and whys behind Riot Grrrl, at all. Well, that’s no longer the case thanks to Sara Marcus’ awesome new book Girls To The Front: The True Story of The Riot Grrrl Revolution.

It’s a fascinating, though sometimes depressing read that traces the whole history of the movement: from idealistic inception to a media-harassed middle age and finally the unfortunate collapse brought about by constant infighting. In many ways it wasn’t the story I wanted to hear, but Marcus is nothing if not totally fair to her subjects.

Heavens to Betsy featuring Corin Tucker (later of Sleater-Kinney) on guitar

The research is exhaustive, and she has very intimate information from the founding mothers of it all, most notably Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna (who has a cool recent interview up on Fader), as well as Allison Wolfe and Molly Neumann from Bratmobile. She also has included lots of pages from zines, flyers, letters, and the like.

Marcus, a contributor to many print news outlets and former politics editor for Heeb Magazine, is a talented researcher and writer, but she also has a clear passion for the topic. She wisely bookends the work with stories from her own experience becoming involved with Riot Grrrl movement, and what it means to her. All in all it’s an engrossing read, shining a light on an important part of recent musical history that until now has frequently been glossed over. If you’re a music lover, regardless of your thoughts on Riot Grrrl this is a must read.

One of Bikini Kill’s many frenzied live performances

If you’re brand new to Riot Grrrl Punk and don’t know where to start, Bikini Kill’s Reject All American, Bratmobile’s Pottymouth and Heavens to Betsy’s Calculated are all excellent starting points that will throw you right into the scene’s big three.

If that’s all old hat to you and you’ve devoured everything from Emily’s Sassy Lime through Team Dresch, then may we recommend you head over to Dis Magzine and download their compilation, I Hate History. It’s a whopping 30+ track collection of rare and obscure Riot Grrrl tunes as collected by EVR/Rhizome‘s Ceci Ross.

- Whole Milk