http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleater-kinney

I don’t think of any band as a “riot grrrl band,” though I was aware of the scene.

Honestly, they lost me at “grrrl.”

And I’ve considered myself a feminist since I was 10, and old enough to understand the meaning of the word.

Back to Sleater-Kinney, a band that distinguished itself from many of its contemporaries because it was musically, lyrically and vocally surprising. When artists are this good they transcend branding, even the revolutionary kind. Many times the strongest participants in common causes — the ones who move things along and make lasting impressions — are the most singular. Maybe because they’re not so much about taking things back as they are about creating new things.

I don’t know.

As for Liz Phair, I’d characterize her earlier music as sophisticated, tongue-in-cheek, canny and, again, sonically and lyrically engaging. But does Meltzer assert that Phair self-identified as a riot grrrl? Or as a more studiously pedicured Lilith type? Or maybe just as a musician? I’m a little confused.

Bikini Kill and L7 were engaging and definitely embraced the riot grrrl label as far as I recall.

Aside from the music: L7′s? tampon missiles just struck me as kind of funny. Zines I only squinted through a few times before giving up on the crooked little scrawlings (they hurt my eyes).

Surely I missed/am missing a lot and will have to read the book to catch up.

As for this —

“Riot Grrrl, as described by Marisa Meltzer in a new cultural history, Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music, was either a radical political statement or it wasn’t, either a cultural uprising or a mere fashion trend, a definable musical style or an empty catch-all for any female performer who mouthed the shibboleths of “girl power.” Meltzer never quite irons out these contradictions, but in trying she gives a comprehensive and highly readable cultural history of a decade that upended all the paradigms for female performers.”

Good for Meltzer for not ironing out these contradictions, as they are un-ironoutable.

Thanks for the review.