A review by rbreade
Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus

Marcus brings together veins of information from newspaper and magazine articles on this early- to mid-1990s flourishing of the riot grrrl movement, along with in-depth interviews, analysis of the 'zines by which this pre-internet revolution communicated its ideas, and some of the best rock 'n' roll writing I've ever encountered. Here's a sample from her description of Heavens to Betsy's "Good Food": "Amid the three verses and chorus lurk not one but two different bridges, which intensify in volume and rhythm as they go along, toppling headfirst into the choruses that follow them" (130). The other two bands most strongly associated with the riot grrrl worldview, Bratmobile and, most important of all, Bikini Kill, are well documented here, but don't overwhelm what was happening in the co-ops, domestic-abuse shelters, and cheap apartment units where the riot grrrls lived, gathered, and planned.

Marcus is also a knockout writer even when she isn't analyzing song structure, as when she calls the stifling nature of cul-de-sac culture the "matte suburban silence outside the doublepaned window" (244). I mean, come on! So good! Or this on-point take-down of mass culture: "Top-Forty artists aren't cultural movements; they're ultra-homogenized and uber-marketed holographic projections, aspects of culture that get blown up to Jumbotron size and burrow a pic line to the id. Mass culture always contains cleaned-up, camera-ready variations on the underground, incorporating just enough of what's "edgy" to maintain its own relevance," (327).

The riot grrrl movement eventually collapsed under the weight of sexist, divisive scrutiny by the mass media and its own internal arguments and battles, but Marcus also documents how it gave hope to girls, especially in the "heartland" of America, who were just trying to survive in a patriarchal society that was actively trying to kill them, both their spirits and, in many cases, their actual, physical selves. And it gave all of us a musical alternative not just to grunge but to cock-rock in general. As Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna sings in "Double Dare Ya": "Dare you to do what you want, / Dare you to be who you will!" Now that's a rallying cry.