The heart of feminist punk: what Bikini Kill’s debut in Argentina was like

Few bands in the history of rock have rewritten the rules. And when they did, it was in terms of success, production, sound, decibels, fashion, marketing. Rock continues, failure after failure, waiting for a messiah who will present himself in the same conditions as those who once triumphed. Beatles, Rolling stones, Jimi Hendrix, LED Zeppelin, David Bowie, Sex guns repeating his conquests in the mimesis of new interpreters means giving in to incomprehension. That’s why from the day Kurt Cobain decided to end his life and that of his group, NirvanaNo band has assumed the destiny of rock as a lever of cultural change on merit and substance.

That said, you can uncover one ear and cover the other. So, recall the history of a rich cultural symbiosis where in fact Kurt Cobain, in 1990, discovered that there was a parallel sensibility to his notions of punk rock and hard rock. And one of the promoters of that nutrition was Toby Vail, a versatile girl from Olympia (Washington, United States) imbued with feminism, self-management and a way of approaching punk rock as a vortex of freedom and subversion of values.

It is said that Cobain was infatuated in a relationship that ended up becoming a friendship, and of which his later partner, Courtney Love, ended up jealous for her entire life. Some things have remained forever in the heart of the Nirvana leader: his love for the feminine / feminist punk of English bands like The Rifts, The raincoats AND X-ray Spex and the graffiti that Vail’s friend and bandmate Kathleen Hanna left on the wall of the house where Cobain lived: “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit.” An allusion to the deodorant used by the musician which would be transformed into music smells like Teen SpiritNirvana’s great anthem.

In a certain sense, Bikini Kill, the band formed by Kathleen Hanna and Tobi Vail, would end up discursively influencing the future of rock. Were Nirvana the Trojan horse of a feminist and deconstructed way of rocking? No and yes.

No, because the success arose from the remarkable workmanship of the album It does not matter (1991) had them battling global titans of hard, phallic rock since the career of Guns n’ Roses AND Metallica, and its reach was so massive that it was impossible to get there without the greys. Yes, because Cobain and his companions took advantage of their fame and position of power to instill anti-sexist messages of inclusion and empathy at every opportunity they were given.

Even on the unforgettable night of his only show in Argentina (30/10/1992) when he noticed that part of the Argentine audience (so considered “the best in the world”) was attacking and throwing his supporting friends off the stage (Calamity Jane) chose to demonstrate apathy and arrogance towards the intolerant public, refusing to play the hit and taking care to hide any trace of empathy and communication. A historical fact that is still talked about.

Midway through the Bikini Kill show at ART Media on Saturday, Tobi Vail dropped the drums (not the first time), grabbed the mic, and dedicated the song Obvious complicity “to our friends at Calamity Jane.” More than three decades later, the memory continues to have an impact and they, activators of a movement known as Riot Grrrl, do not stop underlining it.

Awaited for decades and renovated five years ago, the Killing in a bikini They couldn’t have come at a better time. The day after the massive march on Congress for Women’s Day and after the closing of the Women’s Hall of the Casa Rosada.

Her way of tackling problems, in an elementary and penetrating way, did nothing but lift the hearts of hundreds of women who took her place, the one that Hanna herself has been promoting for more than three decades: the girls in front, in front of the stage, being owners of the mosh pit, favoring the communication channel, allowing themselves the use of the territory.

Killing in a bikini, an hour and a half on stage of pure energy and concentration, have in fact rewritten the history of rock. And although it cannot be said that what is heard comes from the spheres or notifies new chords, what is intended is to propose a parallel history of rock, on a quantum and tangential string, where man exists only as a disturbing shadow.

Tacit, in any case, because the songs are from you to you, they imply and replicate catharsis, sarcasm and humor. Among the audience, Patricia Pietrafesa (Children’s corpses, She-devils, Kumbia Queers) walks in pairs: like BK, already before, he designed a local punk scene based on photocopies, fanzines, putting his body there and changing, without losing the ability to be a true awakener of consciences regarding the musical genre and issues of type .

At the time of the encore he played Rebellious girl, one of the most famous classics. A loud ode to sisterhood that lets loose with patience and passion, as the beat races like a beating heart: “Rebel girl/ you’re the queen of my world/ When she speaks/ I feel the revolution in her hips/ I really want to be your best friend”. Shortly after, in an avenue called Corrientes, all the electricity was still in their hands.