Riot grrl pack-leaders share another unheard number.
Back in 2012, Bikini Kill launched their own record label with a view to reissue their back catalogue. So far, we’ve had the vintage Bikini Kill EP, first released in 1992; and 1993’s Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah – a split album with English counterparts Huggy Bear.
The next Bikini Girl release to see a reissue is the band’s 1991 demo tape, Revolution Girl Style Now. As with the Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah reissue, this one comes packaged with some unreleased tracks. One previously unheard number is titled ‘Ocean Song’ and can be heard in full below. It was inspired by stories frontwoman Kathleen Hanna heard while working at at SafePlace, a shelter for survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence in Washington.
Hanna also spoke to The New York Times about her early recordings. “To hear this material kind of shows the link that we had to the Northwest and to the music scene there; I really love that, because I feel like a lot of times, that gets lost,” Hanna said. “It’s kind of written about like, ‘these freak feminist anomalies who sprung up out of nowhere.’ We actually were friends with people in so-called grunge bands, even though nobody called themselves grunge bands.”
FACT’s Arron Merat recently profiled the rise and impact of Bikini Kill’s work.