Grass Widow - Internal Logic

Grass Widow are releasing their new record at the end of next month! Listen to snippets & get excited:

http://grasswidow.org/

Grass Widow - Disappearing Industries

Having dipped out of view for a few months following a whole lot of touring, Grass Widow return to land with a new track ahead of their Grass Widow/Nature split 7”. 'Disappearing Industries' is a lighter listen than some of their most recent work, all honey-soaked harmonies sweeping across signature individual guitar lines and racing drums.

Widow/Nature 7” is up for preorder now and includes hand-marbleized and letterpressed sleeves (it's all in the details). Get it from M'Ladys Records. Out 28th February.

www.myspace.com/grasswidowmusic

Read: Not Every Girl Is A Riot Grrrl

"Women should be heroes for everybody, not just for other women." - Amy Klein

Riot Grrrl has always been a tricky term to get to grips with, as it covers so much and yet is also an extremely precise movement in time, the timeline of which is slightly blurred. During its peak I was still playing Barbies and obsessing over Top Of The Pops, so I'm by no means in any position to provide a full history, but in my view, Riot Grrrl gave permission to women to be themselves, to eradicate dated attitudes of a woman's place in society and encourage women to speak out about their experiences and problems, and to support each other.

It was a movement that took place in gig venues, in social spaces and out on the streets, discussed in meetings and talked about in zines. It was the coming together of a group of people fed up with being sidelined because of their gender, especially in the so-called open minded punk community. It was the reclaiming of an individual's identity and a proactive, supportive outlook that empowered women and was another sharp attack on the sexism that still reared its head everyday, subtly or otherwise.

It's difficult to discuss briefly as there are so many elements to Riot Grrrl, and books such as Sarah Marcus's 'Girls To The Front' and 'Riot Grrrl: Revolution Girl Style Now!' do a brilliant job of detailing the views, events and people involved.

But as word of Riot Grrrl spreads further and further over time, the true meaning of the title can become skewed and altered, resulting in almost a caricature of its former self. Riot Grrrl is Bikini Kill and Heavens To Betsy, but it isn't a specific genre of music. In fact, it isn't solely a musical movement at all, but one that brings together the topics of art, music, politics, gender, sexuality, abuse and a host of other issues. And yet, female musicians are finding it harder and harder to shake off the tag.

By creating this 'other' woman, who doesn't fit the traditional stereotype, Riot Grrrl has become the badge placed upon them. And with it comes a stereotype all of its own. In my own experience, even the most liberal and open-minded of people have presumed that I'm a lesbian, just because a lot of my music collection is taken up with records made by women. This strange viewpoint also worryingly suggests that straight girls only listen to music made by men, which when you think about it, must mean that girls enjoy music only because they are attracted to the person making it... Don't get me wrong, I love The Pixies, but I don't feel the urge to jump Frank Black's bones, or to see Mark E. Smith in his birthday suit, thanks very much.

It's been on my mind for quite a while now, so I was pleased to read the 'Not Every Girl Is A Riot Grrrl' article by Lindsay Zoladz, published on Pitchfork a few days ago. In it, Lindsay discusses how nowadays, the comparison to Riot Grrrl can be detrimental to women, especially in music, because once again female musicians are labelled before they've even struck a chord.

Obviously being typecast as a Riot Grrrl isn't exactly the worst insult, but it's still lazily lumping an entire gender together rather than listening to the music being produced, and shows how limited our vocabulary for talking about women in music is. It was great to hear many women (including Grass Widow!) discussing their experiences with the term, and Amy Klein got it spot on, noting, "It shouldn't be sacrilege to say that a guitar player who happens to be female sounds like, say, J Mascis... And people should feel comfortable complimenting a 15-year-old guy, saying, 'Your playing sounds like Marnie Stern.' Women should be heroes for everybody, not just for other women."

Read the article in full here.

Kim Gordon reading the original Riot Grrrl manifesto:

Read: Girl Gang Zine

I've been a regular visitor to Maren's blog for a while now - every entry makes me want to book an impromptu flight straight to Berlin to see the subjects of her beautiful photography in person; her illustrations are delicate and ALWAYS depicting super cool girls (Wild Flag, 'Rebel Girl', the Las Robertas design for their recent European tour) and she has impeccable taste in music.

About a year ago, she told me about her idea for a zine around the theme of 'Role Models', and I must have typed out some answers to a few questions she emailed over. And then promptly forgot all about it in the midst of some winter blues and job worries.

But Girl Gang Zine has arrived! And what a fine papery read she is. I have no idea how Maren and Kristina managed to get SO many well known women involved - the contents page reads like the best party ever: Grass Widow, Brilliant Colors, Super Wild Horses, Cassie from Vivian Girls, Electrelane, Marnie Stern, Tavi Gevinson (Style Rookie/ Rookie Mag), Karin from Fever Ray/The Knife, Kate Nash, Zola Jesus & others, all openly chatting about their music, art, feminism, love, life and all the rest of it, in an incredibly candid manner. To have a page of my own about my zine, Shebang, is quite mindblowing & a total honour.

The zine is as lovely as you'd expect from two such talented girls - all images are illustrated, with text a mixture of hand-written intro's and typed Q&A's. A few of the women featured are new to me (The Blow, signed to K Records, in particular), so I've got plenty to look up, as well as others to revisit. With a quote from Kathleen Hanna kicking everything off, it was always set to be a winning read.

The zine is available from the Girl Gang Zine site - get yours quick!

Watch: Grass Widow at the Zoo

Grass Widow "Milo Minute" from what rabbit on Vimeo.

I'll avoid some pun about monkey business... Grass Widow play for the gorilla's at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, Massachusetts.

Label: Kill Rock Stars

Kill Rock Stars is my favourite label ever. Still going strong after TWENTY years, I always trust their taste and have been introduced to so many of my most-loved bands thanks to their never ending and always expanding roster. They are one of the few female-led labels in the US (and probably the world at large too) and are the epitome of the DIY ethos. Their bands include Bikini Kill, Comet Gain, Quasi, Bratmobile, Sleater-Kinney, Grass Widow, Gossip, Kleenex/LiLiPUT, Thao, Unwound and Marnie Stern. And their tshirt designs are always awesome.

For new starters or seasoned pro's, this compilation really is their BEST EVER, with cherry-picked underground hits from bands that will never sound dated or tired. Access the free download via the image below and click it up!