Bikini Kill in the UK

1993
30m

Riot grrrl pioneers Bikini Kill hit the UK for the first time in 1993 for a co-headline tour with Huggy Bear in support of their split LP Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah/Our Troubled Youth (Kill Rock Stars).

Documented by Lucy Thane, Bikini Kill in the UK: It Changed My Life combines footage of live performances and interviews from band and audience members on topics including feminism, sexuality, punk, and DIY culture. Providing unique insight into the struggle and politics of being a woman in the male-dominated punk scene, discussions range from the writing of Kathy Acker and the practice of zinemaking, to sexism in the music industry and the importance of queer representation in underground culture. In addition to blistering performances by Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear, Thane’s film features footage of riot grrrl contemporaries Skinned Teen, post-punk pioneers The Raincoats, and queercore punks Sister George.

Following the UK tour, Bikini Kill released their first studio full-length album, the seminal Pussy Whipped (Kill Rock Stars) in October 1993.

The Kids Are Alright: Youth Culture on Screen

Teds, mods, rockers, punks, goths, ravers, hoodies, emos... The 20th Century phenomenon of ‘youth culture’ is a dynamic expression of identity, with its hands on music, fashion, language and generational change.

Since the ‘rowdy generation’ of the 1950s, teenagers and youth culture have been defined from the outside and from within. Young people proclaim their social identity through style, music and the spaces they occupy – which also makes them a visible target, and they become a bellwether (or scapegoat) for the state of the nation.

To the establishment, they are a source of anthropological curiosity and hand-wringing moral panic – as well as a key commercial audience, whether for consumer products, political movements or radio and television programming. An obsession with youth against mistrust and misunderstanding; attitudes towards the young are full of contradictions.

Today, youth culture is online, in a vast expanse of communities and identities. The internet has enabled a ‘pick n mix’ approach to music and fashion, while allowing local scenes to set trends globally, and giving young voices the platform to speak – loudly – for themselves.