Bikini Kill was a punk rock band of the riot grrrl movement, formed in Olympia, Washington, USA in October of 1990. Often considered the godmothers of riot grrrl, Bikini Kill's incendiary lyrics, calling for "Revolution Girl Style Now" helped inspire countless female punk bands of the 1990s and later.

The band was formed at The Evergreen State College by Kathleen Hanna, Kathi Wilcox and Tobi Vail. They began working together on a fanzine called Bikini Kill, and with the addition of Billy Karren, formerly of The Go Team (not to be confused with the current band The Go! Team) on guitar, formed a band of the same name. Hanna, a former stripper, wrote most of the band's songs and encouraged a female-centered environment at their shows, urging girls to come to the front of the stage and handing out lyric sheets to them.

After an independent demo cassette, Revolution Girl Style Now, Bikini Kill released The Bikini Kill EP on the indie label Kill Rock Stars. Produced by Ian MacKaye of Fugazi, the album began to establish the band's audience. In 1993, Bikini Kill went to England and began working with Huggy Bear, releasing a joint recording together and touring the UK. The tour was the subject of a documentary film by Lucy Thane entitled It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill In The U.K..

By the following year, riot grrl was receiving constant attention in the media and Bikini Kill were seen as leaders of the movement. At this time the group called for a "media blackout" to be executed by all riot grrrls, since they felt the band and the movement were being misrepresented and commodified.

On their return to the United States, they began working with Joan Jett, formerly of The Runaways, a rock musician whom Hanna described as an early example of riot grrl's aesthetics. Jett produced the single "New Radio/Rebel Girl" for the band. Vail and Wilcox began songwriting in 1994 with the release of Pussy Whipped. Their last album was Reject All American (1996), and the band broke up in 1998. Shortly before the breakup, a collection of singles released between 1996-1998, aptly titled The Singles was released.

After the Tobi Vail and Billy Karren began to perform and record together as The Frumpies. Kathleen Hanna worked with various artists, including Rachel Carns of The Need, in a band called The Fakes, putting out one LP, and then released her solo project, Julie Ruin. Kathleen Hanna now sings for Le Tigre.

Bikini Kill @ Roadrunner

Performers