Customer Reviews

Reject All-American

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although a little more polished than I like my Bikini Kill, this is an excellent album and newcommers to their audio feminsim could start out here without missing a single message.

It is a shame they broke up, because every one of their albums sounds different. While the polished sound will undoubtedly raise protests among some loyal fans about "selling out" I don't think any band can really survive without continously growing, learning and expanding.

I had been listening to BK for a long time, and had reservations when I heard that this album was going to be poppy. My reservations ceased when I actually gave it a chance and realized just how awesome it was. BK's experimental recording blew me away

Bikini Kill was one of the great grrrl bands of the 1990's and this album was only one facet in a long line of gems from the Washington state punk quartet. Unlike the Spice Girls, this group knows that girl power comes from self respect and civil rights, not breast size and belt notches.

A truly astonishing slice of riot grrrl rock, this ranks as one of the most dazzling records to come out of the 1990's. The music just glides on "False Start"(their best song); the rest of the time it skitters along amusingly on spirit and nerve, but is seldom tasteless, never whiny. Punk fans complained it was too slick, but it shows growth from "Pussy Whipped" and Kathleen Hanna comes off like a goddess(also check out her 'solo' CD titled JULIE RUIN). A masterstroke of musical brilliance. Were the Sex Pistols this good at their peak? Maybe, but they weren't BETTER.

Not only was Bikini Kill one of the best bands of the 1990's, but this was by far one of the best records of the 90's. It's just a pity more people more people don't know about it and them. Bikini Kill brought forth the authentic inner angst and intestinal fortitude that 99% of other present day "punk" bands try to deliver, and on "Reject All American", it comes through loud and proud. Kathleen Hanna should go down in the the rock and roll record books as a true original icon. If Iggy Pop is known to some as the godfather of punk, then Kathleen Hanna's reign as riot grrrrl queen is cemented forever. This album is strong from start to finish, and just as Black Flag's "Rise Above" is an anthem for the 80's, "Reject All American" should go down as an anthem for the 90's.

This is by far Bikini Kill's poppiest album, and that doesn't mean they've become tame!
I dare not say they have "matured", because their previous statements were powerful and become more true everytime you listen to them. The roar of Pussy Whipped, the prevalescence of DIY and the screech of guitars in CD Version, the stylish Singles, are milestones in the history of punk rock.

The sound of Reject All American is different from any of BKs other work. The breathtaking surfer vibe, the catchy hooks and unfogettable lines Kathleen throws at you. Bikini Kill delivers everything from compelling and tuneful slower numbers (R.I.P, For Only, False Start, Tony Randall), to our beloved fast loud fun political little pieces (Statement of Vindication, Capri Pants, No Backrub--- BEEN PROGRAMMED TO SELF DESTRUCT, Bloody Ice Cream, Finale). There's pop songs like Jet Ski and Reject All American... this album wont' wear out!

Maybe it isn't the "girls with the bad reputation" at their rawest, but they sure as hell are gonna "make you pay" anyways. Tobi's and Kathleen's vocals are as mind blowing as ever, the songwriting is every time more brilliant! only word I can find to describe it.

If you are honestly gonna judge this according to its "poppiness", you lose. Bikini Kill win. They can't lose, they're the real princesses.

My favorite tracks are Statement of Vindication, R.I.P, Jet Ski, No Backrub, Bloody Ice Cream, Distinct Complicity, and Capri Pants

This C.D. goes beyond words. There's something just THERE, a spirit all involved in the scene felt in our blood but was hard to communicate. That said, it could easily get over the 5 stars. But this album is a symbol of a loving period in the last few years where girl love was spread and culture was strong. With Woodstock 99, this is what I listen to for comfort. It tells me I matter. Let me ask, why can't people make this music anymore? It might be gone but it's surely not forgotten.

Perhaps the best moment is the song 'Bloody Ice Cream'. The last part of it is so smooth and clear, it epitomizes the zines and friendships I've shared. They can play fast and not go into hardcore predictable cliche. They can play slow and not be boring. To put it in other words, this is the album I've been waiting for.

The only shame is that I believe Bikini Kill were never fully recognized for all they had. But I'd like to think they wanted it that way; that we were part of a secret club of holding hands and making really great music. Buy this album, thank me later. ;D

Back in the mid to late '90s, I was not the goth/industrial loving freak that I am now. I was much more into punk music. I was so anti-establishment. One of my favorite punk albums that has really shaped my disdain for major record labels was "Reject All American" by Bikini Kill. I thought at the time this was the most brilliant cd I had ever heard because Kathleen Hannah and co. totally eschewed mainstream rock aesthetic in terms of playing polished rock music. "Reject All American" was definitely one of the angriest cds I had ever heard. The razor sharp lyrics of Kathleen Hannah resonated with me. And as raw and unpolished the music was, there still was a pop sensibility to the songs. They were all incredibly catchy and melodic just like The Ramones' music was. I especially love the ferociousity of the opening track "Statement of Vindication" and the incredibly infectious "Capri Pants" and the title track. I haven't listened to "Reject All American" in a few years because my musical tastes has evolved over the years but as I am listening to it, I find myself falling in love with the music once again. Sometimes the greatest bands don't always have the longest careers in music, and Bikini Kill is definitely one of them. Bikini Kill was a pure representation to how bands should operate which is totally free of major record label and to forego the typical rock aesthetic and the unspoken rules that goes with being a rock star.

While bands like Green Day and the Offspring try to pay homage and carry on the spirit of the original punk bands they seem to love so much, they have missed the point. With this album, Bikini Kill and Kathleen Hanna do what those bands will never be able to do and that is deliver their material with so much angst and attitude that one cannot help but take notice. This album is strong from start to finish. While the overwhelming majority of 90's "punk bands" do nothing more than play fast songs with nothing behind them, Bikini Kill, and especially on this album, delivers the goods that should make their 70's forerunners very proud indeed!

The product of considerable maturation on the part of the now-defunct Olympia/DC/Olympia Bikini Kill, *Reject All American* was an era-defining record: the last good-faith attempt to recreate the energy of '77 Britain hitting American shores. But Kathleen Hanna's Jam t-shirt in the liner notes might tip the serious observer to the fact this is music with less-than-universal intent. Closely tied as it was to Evergreen State College, the Olympia Riot Grrl sound was a mark of the mentality of educated lower-middle-class youth in the late '90s: far from learning old ways to be young, they were trying to work out the contradictions of a cultural "long present" inherited from people one felt to be one's contemporaries.

Whether or not such efforts succeeded, Hanna has succeeded at not being a revivalist and this is some proof: the models for the band's sound are not actually evident, as the influences for the direction of the musical movement were autochtonic rather than mediatized -- the '97 Bikini Kill listener would be thinking of Bratmobile and Sleater-Kinney, rather than Pamela Des Barres or Joan Jett and the Runaways. Has the music stood up well? Yes, and this is a testament to the less-than-total standardization of the American cultural present -- there are really many people who remember this period fondly, and if it's not quite the right attitude for the present feel that this reflects rather badly on the present (no sentiments were harmed in its production). An absolute must-exist, a truly worthwhile purchase.

This is an intelligent, angry and spirited album. Kathleen Hanna's lyrics are strong and true...Kathleen's voice is by far the most HONEST that I have ever heard. Songs vary from melodic to angry...You won't be want to listen to anything else. I very highly recommend this cd.

Bikini Kill were one of the original riot grrrl bands in the early '90s. This was their last album, and more polished than their previous works. I think it's an awesome album and a great place to start with Bikini Kill. All the songs are excellent, there is not a single bad song on here. My favorites being 'Statement of Vindication', 'Capri Pants', 'Jet Ski', 'Tony Randall', 'Reject All American', and 'Finale'. Kathleen Hanna's voice takes some warming up to at first, but before you know it you suddenly fall in love with her snotty brat girl voice. I'm really glad I've found out about this band and I wish we had bands like Bikini Kill still around. Female musicians are so overlooked, it's a shame.