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The feminist-punk band Bikini Kill, which had its heyday from 1990-1997, is on a reunion tour which could all too easily have felt dusty and out-of-place. Their London show was anything but. From start (New Radio) to finish (their biggest song, Rebel Girl), it was a riot – which was apt for a band led by riot grrrl-in-chief, Kathleen Hanna. Now 55, Hanna’s vocals have lost none of the viscerality she was known for in the 90s. The gig was unabashedly bracing, much like her new memoir Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk. Laid out in punchy short chapters, Hanna manages to squeeze rape, adoption, alcoholism, abortion, miscarriage, Lyme disease and heartfelt anecdotes about her friend and fellow punk Kurt Cobain into 322 pages. Is feminist punk back? The mass of teenage girls screaming “suck my left one” back at Hanna would certainly say so.
