Perhaps in a far-sighted way, the increasingly unstable political and social climate in the United States necessitated a Bikini Kill reunion. The feminist punk rock band pioneered the riot grrrl movement when they formed in 1990 in Olympia, Washington. Throughout the 1990s, Bikini Kill spoke openly against the status quo, although heard primarily by rock music aficionados, and the band became the musical mouthpiece for an underground network of angry and disenfranchised young people.

Bikini Kill broke up in 1997 after two albums, several EPs and two compilations. The musicians joined several short-lived bands. Surprisingly, after more than 20 years apart, the three original musicians of Bikini Kill reunited, recruited a guitarist for a concert tour in 2019, and intended to continue live performances next year. The next surprise was that the musicians would be forced to take a COVID break in 2020 and 2021. Undeterred, Bikini Kill postponed their dates and returned to the stage in 2022. This week, original vocalist Kathleen Hanna, bassist Kathi Wilcox and drummer Tobi Vail, along with touring guitarist Sara Landeau of Julie Ruin, returned to New York for two shows.

Hanna has claimed in interviews that the band has no immediate plans to compose or record new music. Indeed, the Irving Plaza setting was entirely a revisit of the Bikini Kill legacy of the 1990s. While many reunited bands tend to polish their old songs, Bikini Kill kept the music raw and minimal. Hanna screamed and yelped into the mic, Wilcox gave the songs a deep bottom, Vail’s pounding was primitive, and Landau churned chords and riffs and sporadically offered a lead melody line on his guitar. Together, the crude music charged at a rapid pace, with Hanna in particular responding to the intensity of the music by repeatedly dancing on the spot.

On two songs, “I Hate Danger” and “Tell Me So”, Vail moved to the foreground to sing. To do this, all the musicians changed instruments and took new stage positions. Hanna switched to bass, Wilcox switched to guitar, and Landeau played drums. The impact of the music remained just as impetuous and powerful on these songs.

The power of Bikini Kill’s 26-song set does not come from the technical ability of the musicians, however. Bikini Kill’s mark in music history was primarily tied to the band’s roaring stance on empowering the oppressed, especially for those identified as women. “Don’t Need You” stripped the male audience of their dominance over women. “Jigsaw Youth” took a defiant stand against stereotypical expectations. By the time Bikini Kill arrived on “Rebel Girl,” what woman in the audience wouldn’t want to be the band’s rebel girl? Perhaps the first song of the two-song encore, “Double Dare Ya,” summed it all up; the song’s lyrics began with “We’re Bikini Kill and we want revolution girl-style now!”

Throughout the night, Bikini Kill and her audience bonded in a lighthearted way. Hanna frequently stood at the edge of the stage and performed directly in front of the fans in front. Someone in the audience called the song “Tony Randall” and, although unplanned, Hanna sang two lines, stating “I still love this song”. The chatter between Hanna’s songs sometimes articulated mobilization as the path to social change.

Bikini Kill was out of sight for a few decades, but modern audiences crave the band’s abrasive punk music, feminist lyrics and fiery performances. Several of the fans leaning against the front barricade weren’t even born when Bikini Kill led the riot grrrls. Even without new compositions to bring Bikini Kill into the world of 21st century music, the band has managed to retain its vitality and speak the language of a new generation. The unanswered question is whether Bikini Kill will stick together or if the current tour was a flirtation with the past.

^{set list}

1. Carnival
2. I do not need you
3. New Radio
4. Youth Puzzle
5. feels blind
6. I hate danger
7. According to natural law
8. Half representative
9. Tony Randall (excerpt)
10. Reject all Americans
11. alien she
12. Sugar
13. Ah! Ah! Replica
14. baby hamster
15. So tell me
16. This is not a test
17. Capri pants
18. Resist psychic death
19. Loose my control
20. For only
21. Distinct complicity
22. Magnet
23. Little Red
24. rebel girl

Bis

1. Double Dare Ya
2. Suck my left