Few bands in rock history rewrote 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 on the same terms as those who once triumphed. Look out for the new ones Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Sex Pistols to repeat his achievements in the mimesis of new interpreters is to give in to misunderstanding. That is why from the day Kurt Cobain decided to end his life and that of his group, Nirvanano band assumed by merit and substance the destiny of rock as a lever of cultural change.
Having said all that, one can uncover one ear and cover the other. So, remember the history of a rich cultural symbiosis where in fact Kurt Cobain, back 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) steeped in 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 by a relationship that ended up being friends, and of which his next partner, Courtney Love, ended up jealous for life. Some things remained forever in the heart of the Nirvana leader: his love for the female/feminist punk of English bands like The Slits, The Raincoats y X-Ray Spex and the graffiti that Kathleen Hanna, Vail’s friend and bandmate, left on the wall of the house where Cobain lived: “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit.” An allusion to the deodorant used by the musician that would transform into music in Smells Like Teen Spiritthe great anthem of Nirvana.
In some ways, Bikini Kill, the band formed by Kathleen Hanna and Tobi Vail, would end up discursively influencing the future of rock. Was Nirvana a trojan horse of a feminist and deconstructed way of making rock? No and yes.
No, because the success triggered by the remarkable workmanship of the album Nevermind (1991) had them fighting against global titans of hard and phallic rock from the career of Guns n’ Roses y Metallica, and its reach was so massive that it was impossible for it to arrive without grays. Yes, because Cobain and his colleagues took advantage of his fame and position of power to spread anti-sexist messages, of inclusion and empathy, in every opportunity they were given.
Even on the unforgettable night of her only show in Argentina (10/30/1992) when noticing that part of the Argentine audience (so believed to be “the best in the world”) was attacking and throwing her supporting friends off the stage (Calamity Jane) chose to display a show of apathy and arrogance on the intolerant audience, refusing to play the hit and taking care to hide any trace of empathy and communication. A historical fact that is still talked about.
On Saturday, midway through the Bikini Kill show at ART Media, Tobi Vail left the drums (not the first time), took the microphone and dedicated the song Distinct Complicity “to our friends from Calamity Jane.” More than three decades later, the memory continues to impact and they, activators of a movement known as Riot Grrrl, continue to point it out.
Waited for decades and renovated five years ago, the Bikini Kill They couldn’t have arrived at a better time. A day after the massive march to Congress for Women’s Day and after the dismissal of the Women’s Hall in the Casa Rosada.
Her way of attacking the issues, in a basic and piercing 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 the owners of the pogo, prioritizing the communication channel, allowing themselves to enjoy the territory.
Bikini Kill, an hour and a half on stage of pure energy and focus, they have indeed rewritten rock history. And although it cannot be said that what is heard comes from the spheres or notifies unpublished chords, what is meant is to propose a parallel history of rock, on a quantum and tangential rope, where man exists only as a harassing shadow.
Kathi Wilcox. Bikini Kill’s bassist in action during Saturday’s show. Photo: Nadia GuzmánTacit, in any case, because the songs are from you to you, they imply and replicate catharsis, sarcasm and humor. Among the public, Patricia Pietrafesa (Children’s corpses, She-Devils, Kumbia Queers) walks like a pair: like the BK, even before, she designed a scene in local punk based on photocopies, fanzines, putting the body and mutating, without losing the ability to be a true awakener of consciences regarding the musical genre and gender issues.
At the time of the encore it sounded Rebel Girl, one of the most notorious classics. A noisy ode to sorority that is unleashed with patience and passion, while the rhythm rides like a racing heart: “Rebellious girl/ you are the queen of my world/ When she speaks/ I hear the revolution in her hips/ I really want to be your best friend”. A little while later, on an avenue specifically called Corrientes, all the electricity was still theirs.