StarCat/CatStar

Babes in Toyland:
Riotous, But Not Grrrls (CD Review)
By Alison Ross
I arrived very late to the raucous riot grrrl party. Not fashionably late, but
mortifyingly late. Like, so late that everyone had a hangover already, and
were sleeping in for years to come.
But then, something happened. The party picked up again. The riot grrrl
festivities, in all their gritty anti-glamor, have revived in recent years.
Suddenly, everyone is celebrating the riot grrrls. Bikini Kill frontwoman
Kathleen Hanna came out of hiding to feature as the subject of a
documentary, "The Punk Singer," and form a band called The Julie Ruin.
The women of Sleater-Kinney magically merged paths after a 10-year
hiatus, put out an album of rousing, robust tunes, and launched a highly
successful international tour.
And then, this year, ferocious femmes Babes in Toyland began touring
after a lengthy split.
The problem is, Babes in Toyland, though similar in sound and ethos to the
riot grrrls, never actually considered themselves a part of the movement,
and indeed show a veiled contempt for being associated with it.
The riot grrrls, you see - vociferously feminist - brashly flouted society's
expectations of women. They didn't just simply eschew demureness, they