gash-rock-now - Tumblr blog

[gash-rock-now]

a member from the Bleeders started a new band btw and it FUCKS

[gash-rock-now]

Honey Bane! Honey Bane!

the pre-riot grrrl women of punk knew what they were doing

[gash-rock-now]

New SCUM Song

this actually came out almost 2 months ago I think? But it's a total banger regardless. seeing this band live will change you

[gash-rock-now]

The Riot Grrrls who had inspired me were a disappointment. They ascribed to the same neoliberal feminist ideal that you still find online. Half the time when you find a feminist that claims to be intersectional, they are anything but, and more often than not have never actually read the Crenshaw analysis. Spaces that are supposed to be for radical feminists online are often filled with toxicity and have been overrun with conservatives that now identify with the term "gender critical" (which the original meaning of was actually like, gender abolitionist lite) to mean 'critical of or really just against trans people in general' and there's not nearly enough people gatekeeping those types of people out of spaces that should've been centered around a leftist analysis of feminism to make me feel like I belonged. It's frustrating. I almost do not feel that feminist discourse even belongs online at this point because there's so few crumbs of feminism left. I find a lot of truth in older feminist theory rooted in leftist analysis, but there are gaps in it because many of these women couldn't have possibly predicted that this is what the future looked like. Unfortunately it doesn't feel like enough people are actually reading theory at all, much less of the feminist kind. People either don't know where to start with it, or they look to other feminist movements where they maybe feel that they don't have to get that deep into it, or even that the branding of it makes it seem fun, sorta like Riot Grrrl. Which is what led me here -- first article in the SCUM zine, retyped by me

SCUM Zine (2022)

When I found Riot Grrrl music, I was elated. Loud, fast, angry music that focused on feminism was exactly what I was looking for. I discovered it as a genre/movement through Bikini Kill, as many of us do. The first time I heard Double Dare Ya, I felt like my life had changed. I went through the whole discography and found plenty that I liked just as much, but also several ideas that were expressed that I was a bit critical of. I decided to dig deeper into Riot Grrrl and what it was, but I found myself disappointed. Most of the music in the genre isn't actually all that loud or fast, and it feels like there is more contempt than pure rage, at least in many instances. There are several bands that I enjoy some of the songs of, but they don't quite hit for me in a broader sense. The critiques they present are so rarely about larger systems of oppression but rather individual experiences or more minor issues (which isn't to say that those minor issues shouldn't be discussed because they ARE contributing to a larger system, but I think that the system they uphold needs to actually be addressed for it to have any impact, otherwise the resounding response is that it's insignificant or not inherently universal). Bikini Kill and Bratmobile got the closest to that for me, but it was still mixed in with some ideals that I don't adhere to. I thought that the ideas might be fleshed out or properly analyzed in the zines that they released, so I got copies of the Bikini Kill and Girl Germs zines, as well as a plethora of other 90s Riot Grrrl zines, and for the most part they offered me the same conundrum: they are just kinda cool. They offer some inspiration, But that's really it;  they are aesthetically pleasing, a bit edgy, and touch on some feminist topics, but they still are just individual thoughts, feelings, and aesthetics above all else. It often left me to wonder, who could build a revolutionary movement on this? Kathleen Hanna said she wanted a Revolution, "Girl-Style" NOW, but where is it? The biggest problem, in my opinion, was the rampant individualism. Riot Grrrl, despite the probable original intent, wasn't a revolutionary leftist force but rather an aesthetic neoliberal one (which makes perfect sense for the time that it came about, but still it leaves a lot to be desired). It's made a comeback in recent years, and self-declared Riot-Grrrls have started making zines again too. I've bought some of the more popular Riot Grrrl zines of the present day, and looked at many of the ones that exist online but they are largely, well, in my opinion, worse. Like they try to replicate the whole aesthetic of the 90s zines but really focus in on that *aesthetic* rather than the politics, which is an issue for me because I already was critical enough of the politics before. It's often a culmination of collages and pictures that worship a specific artist or a "look", interspersed with the repetition of slogans and the same brand of politics that you find on those sponsored radlib™ instagram pages that make those slideshows that co-opt leftist language but end up being ironically very reactionary and kinda perplexing. And seeing this be the current state of feminist "activism" amongst youth, especially amongst those who would proclaim themselves to be radicals and leftists of some sort, has led me to a point of feeling like I need to take action. I just couldn't find a means of feminist activism that felt right to me.

[gash-rock-now]

SCUM Zine (2022)

When I found Riot Grrrl music, I was elated. Loud, fast, angry music that focused on feminism was exactly what I was looking for. I discovered it as a genre/movement through Bikini Kill, as many of us do. The first time I heard Double Dare Ya, I felt like my life had changed. I went through the whole discography and found plenty that I liked just as much, but also several ideas that were expressed that I was a bit critical of. I decided to dig deeper into Riot Grrrl and what it was, but I found myself disappointed. Most of the music in the genre isn't actually all that loud or fast, and it feels like there is more contempt than pure rage, at least in many instances. There are several bands that I enjoy some of the songs of, but they don't quite hit for me in a broader sense. The critiques they present are so rarely about larger systems of oppression but rather individual experiences or more minor issues (which isn't to say that those minor issues shouldn't be discussed because they ARE contributing to a larger system, but I think that the system they uphold needs to actually be addressed for it to have any impact, otherwise the resounding response is that it's insignificant or not inherently universal). Bikini Kill and Bratmobile got the closest to that for me, but it was still mixed in with some ideals that I don't adhere to. I thought that the ideas might be fleshed out or properly analyzed in the zines that they released, so I got copies of the Bikini Kill and Girl Germs zines, as well as a plethora of other 90s Riot Grrrl zines, and for the most part they offered me the same conundrum: they are just kinda cool. They offer some inspiration, But that's really it;  they are aesthetically pleasing, a bit edgy, and touch on some feminist topics, but they still are just individual thoughts, feelings, and aesthetics above all else. It often left me to wonder, who could build a revolutionary movement on this? Kathleen Hanna said she wanted a Revolution, "Girl-Style" NOW, but where is it? The biggest problem, in my opinion, was the rampant individualism. Riot Grrrl, despite the probable original intent, wasn't a revolutionary leftist force but rather an aesthetic neoliberal one (which makes perfect sense for the time that it came about, but still it leaves a lot to be desired). It's made a comeback in recent years, and self-declared Riot-Grrrls have started making zines again too. I've bought some of the more popular Riot Grrrl zines of the present day, and looked at many of the ones that exist online but they are largely, well, in my opinion, worse. Like they try to replicate the whole aesthetic of the 90s zines but really focus in on that *aesthetic* rather than the politics, which is an issue for me because I already was critical enough of the politics before. It's often a culmination of collages and pictures that worship a specific artist or a "look", interspersed with the repetition of slogans and the same brand of politics that you find on those sponsored radlib™ instagram pages that make those slideshows that co-opt leftist language but end up being ironically very reactionary and kinda perplexing. And seeing this be the current state of feminist "activism" amongst youth, especially amongst those who would proclaim themselves to be radicals and leftists of some sort, has led me to a point of feeling like I need to take action. I just couldn't find a means of feminist activism that felt right to me.

[gash-rock-now]

Live recording of one of the BLEEDERS best songs (imo), found deep in the gnome hutch bootleg links. Sounds completely different live and unedited than it does on record, and I like it better that way