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Gordon reviews his 7”s
Sep. 21st, 2011 10:23 amHeavens to Betsy “My Secret” / Bratmobile “Cool Schmool” 1992
Except for Bikini Kill “Rebel Girl” and the There’s a Dyke in the Pit”* comp this might be the best 7” of the Riot Grrrl era. Two bands with different lo-fi, bass-hating styles that helped form** the ideological outlook of the feminist punk movement of the early ‘90s.
The Heavens to Betsy side is intense, especially when it came out. Different eras/locations of punk had different styles of lyrics. ‘80s MRR punk was anti-Reagan, Texas punk was echoed real violence will a defiance difficult for a Bay Arean to understand, Dischord-era D.C. emo was about personal relations to society and other people. Riot Grrrl was personal and political, often combining point-of-view confessional stories of abuse and resistance with a pseudo-innocent voice. .
There were childhood sexual abuse songs before Riot Grrrl, but RG put them in a political context and, through the sheer number of stories and songs in the scene, helped create a context in which sexism (in the punk scene and beyond) could be addressed. One of the best things about Riot Grrrl were that it made punk unsafe again.
My secret is really true
This song, these words, are a threat to you
A knife in you, I'd stick it in
Listen, listen… I'm about revenge
That message goes beyond the story in the song. It’s a warning to anyone, in the punk scene or not. Girls/women are not yours to abuse. And there will be consequences to your actions. Being “punk” is not enough. It will not protect you either.
The Bratmobile side declares an end to old-school Pacific Northwest punk in the very first lyrics, “I don’ want to sit around and talk about the Wipers. Weren’t those the good old days?”
In the geographical context, it’s hard to imagine laying down a bigger gauntlet. The famous band that is this region’s claim to fame? Irrelevant to 1992. Women are not just there to listen to the old glorious punk stories. The lyrics “I don’t want anyone to tell me how thin I am. I don’t want to die for your fucking petty dreams.” Draw further battle lines.
There’s some good old punk voice switching as well. This always confuses non-punks because they have a hard time (understandably) knowing what is sarcasm and what is serious. “I just wanna be one of the boys. I just want to be your pretty fashion toy. Let’s hang out and be cool, alright. Let’s go watch the girl fight tonight!”
Once when I saw Bratmobile back in the day, I made a mistake. They came out on stage and were tuning and noodling around on their instruments for what seemed like forever. It was a hot, tightly packed (probably oversold) club*** and I yelled out, “Come on, play!” or something like that.
Allison stopped whatever she was doing and asked, “Who said that?”
My friends all yelled out, “It was Gordon.”
I said, “Sorry, I was just trying to be punk,” but Allison wrote “Fuck You” on her arm and they started playing “Cool Schmool.”
Here’s a picture:
And here’s the song.
Rating: Awesome. One of my favorites.Added bonus for historic value
*one could call Dyke in the Pit more Queer-core but there is a lot of overlap in those two categories
**as well as bands it should not be forgotten that zines also helped from the rot grrrl style
***It was at the Chameleon, which later became Amnesia, the place I did my first San Francisco reading for Cheesemonger.
Except for Bikini Kill “Rebel Girl” and the There’s a Dyke in the Pit”* comp this might be the best 7” of the Riot Grrrl era. Two bands with different lo-fi, bass-hating styles that helped form** the ideological outlook of the feminist punk movement of the early ‘90s.
The Heavens to Betsy side is intense, especially when it came out. Different eras/locations of punk had different styles of lyrics. ‘80s MRR punk was anti-Reagan, Texas punk was echoed real violence will a defiance difficult for a Bay Arean to understand, Dischord-era D.C. emo was about personal relations to society and other people. Riot Grrrl was personal and political, often combining point-of-view confessional stories of abuse and resistance with a pseudo-innocent voice. .
There were childhood sexual abuse songs before Riot Grrrl, but RG put them in a political context and, through the sheer number of stories and songs in the scene, helped create a context in which sexism (in the punk scene and beyond) could be addressed. One of the best things about Riot Grrrl were that it made punk unsafe again.
My secret is really true
This song, these words, are a threat to you
A knife in you, I'd stick it in
Listen, listen… I'm about revenge
That message goes beyond the story in the song. It’s a warning to anyone, in the punk scene or not. Girls/women are not yours to abuse. And there will be consequences to your actions. Being “punk” is not enough. It will not protect you either.
The Bratmobile side declares an end to old-school Pacific Northwest punk in the very first lyrics, “I don’ want to sit around and talk about the Wipers. Weren’t those the good old days?”
In the geographical context, it’s hard to imagine laying down a bigger gauntlet. The famous band that is this region’s claim to fame? Irrelevant to 1992. Women are not just there to listen to the old glorious punk stories. The lyrics “I don’t want anyone to tell me how thin I am. I don’t want to die for your fucking petty dreams.” Draw further battle lines.
There’s some good old punk voice switching as well. This always confuses non-punks because they have a hard time (understandably) knowing what is sarcasm and what is serious. “I just wanna be one of the boys. I just want to be your pretty fashion toy. Let’s hang out and be cool, alright. Let’s go watch the girl fight tonight!”
Once when I saw Bratmobile back in the day, I made a mistake. They came out on stage and were tuning and noodling around on their instruments for what seemed like forever. It was a hot, tightly packed (probably oversold) club*** and I yelled out, “Come on, play!” or something like that.
Allison stopped whatever she was doing and asked, “Who said that?”
My friends all yelled out, “It was Gordon.”
I said, “Sorry, I was just trying to be punk,” but Allison wrote “Fuck You” on her arm and they started playing “Cool Schmool.”
Here’s a picture:
And here’s the song.
Rating: Awesome. One of my favorites.Added bonus for historic value
*one could call Dyke in the Pit more Queer-core but there is a lot of overlap in those two categories
**as well as bands it should not be forgotten that zines also helped from the rot grrrl style
***It was at the Chameleon, which later became Amnesia, the place I did my first San Francisco reading for Cheesemonger.
