Bikini Kill: Revolution Girl Style Now [BIKINI KILL]

Why you'll love it

This Bikini Kill Records edition adds three songs that weren't on the original tape, plus a lyrics insert, a sticker and a download card. The 1991 cassette had never been on vinyl before 2015.

This edition

• Three bonus tracks
• Lyrics insert
• Sticker included
• Download card included

About the album

Before the record deals and the headlines, Bikini Kill was a band from Olympia, Washington, with a cassette and a slogan. They made Revolution Girl Style Now at Yo-Yo Studios with Pat Maley in 1991 and sold it themselves, and the phrase on the cover went with them that summer, when they and Bratmobile headed east for an extended stay in Washington, DC. The slogan sat alongside another of theirs, Stop the J-Word Jealousy from Killing Girl Love.

Kathleen Hanna's voice is the first thing that hits you, and the songs are raw, fast and very much alive. "Double Dare Ya" is a rallying call, "Feels Blind" is a slow, aching burn, and "Carnival" and "This Is Not a Test" tear along at full punk speed. The 2015 reissue adds "Ocean Song," "Just Once" and "Playground," all from the same era.

Author Dave Thompson called this the one truly essential Bikini Kill album, made while they were building their own crowd. It began life as a cassette the band dubbed and sold themselves; the vinyl is a considerable upgrade, and you won't need a pencil to rewind it.

Also at Kops: more Bikini Kill on vinyl · browse Punk

Tracklist

Listen

On Bikini Kill Records (cat# BK001), a reissue of the 1991 album.