01.01.70
"It's pretty cool that all these people are here to see an all-girl band," says a young woman to her boyfriend, speaking of the sold-out crowd behind us. My ears perk up, as they always do, at the phrase "all-girl band." I check an impulse to spin around and get a better look at the couple, but judging by their previous topics of discussion-- the upcoming Harvest Dance, a comprehensive list of people in their grade who smell bad-- I place them squarely in the 15-18 or "were not alive when Pussy Whipped first came out" demographic.
Something about the way the girl says "all-girl band" is genuine, bright, and revelatory, as if she hadn't had the opportunity to say something like this aloud in public, let alone at an indie rock show, until just now. But there's also something dampening about the fact that this observation feels revelatory in 2011-- 35 years after punk broke, 30 after the initial rumblings of contemporary indie rock, and even 20 years after that feminist jolt to both of these institutions that called itself riot grrrl.
Source: Pitchfork Media