The following women are the mothers of most rocker grrrls today. All of this music was too intense for the times and ignored, but now is the soundtrack of the current generation. Whether they know it or not. From these pioneers we get The Breeders, Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Hole, Elastica, Cibo Matto, Garbage, Sleater-Kinney, Ladytron, Chicks On Speed, Lesbians On Ecstasy, Erase Errata, Boyskout, Peaches, Electrocute, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Metric.
The architects: LENE LOVICH (US/UK) and NINA HAGEN (Germany), updating Yma Sumac for the new wave; ARI UP and THE SLITS, exploring the wilds of world dub (UK); LiLiPUT, the best PostPunk band you’ve never heard of and equal to any (Switzerland); FATAL MICROBES, a teen band featuring two kids of Vi Subversa from the Poison Girls (UK); STINKY TOYS, who played the first all-Punk show ever with the Pistols and newcomer ‘Suzie and the Banshees’ (France); the minimalist robot synth of FLYING LIZARDS, featuring PATTI PALLADIN of Snatch(NY/UK); TINA WEYMOUTH and the TALKING HEADS, the fountainhead for indie dress, PunkFunk, and more styles than we’ve caught up with (New York); the collective PULSALLAMA, with Wendy Wild and Ann Magnuson, bringing polyrhthmic fun (NY); THE BLOODS with funky punk; LIZZY MERCIER DESCLOUX making dissonant guitar clang danceable (France/NY); THE MODETTES modeling impossibly catchy pop with reggae bounce (NY); JILL KROESEN with rhythmic skronk and chant (NY); The BUSH TETRAS, a funky punk band whose influence covers Romeo Void to Kim Gordan (NY); the brilliant spartan funk of E.S.G. by the Scroggins sisters (South Bronx); Her Mercurial Majesty of Goth and so much more, SIOUXSIE SIOUX (UK); the stripped edge of Young Marble Giants, whose ‘Credit In the Straight World’ was covered by Hole (Wales); Y PANTS forecast the bratty casualism of Bratmobile (NY); UT rode tribal drums and fuzzy chords through alien synths (NY); TINA WEYMOUTH and Chris Frantz of TOM TOM CLUB spun the NY scene’s punkfunk through hiphop and reggae to conquer the world with ‘Genius Of Love’ (NY); …while KIM GORDAN and SONIC YOUTH channeled the scene’s No Wave noise into a startling career (US); the punkfunk priests GANG OF FOUR converted bassist SARA LEE to the cause in their second revolution (UK/US); VANESSA BRISCOE emitted the bent transmissions of PYLON (Georgia); Throbbing Gristle had split nicely into the fresh folds of CHRIS & COSEY, with conceptual and sexual artist COSI FANNI TUTTI (UK); The SELECTER sure picked it right with lead singer PAULINE BLACK kicking tough ska (UK); EDITH NYLON made the synth pop and kick (France); ALICE BAG of the Bags now crusaded with the CAMBRIDGE APOSTLES (L.A.); SU TISSUE cut an askew swath through SUBURBAN LAWNS (L.A.); Native American DEBORAH IYALL serenaded in the ROMEO VOID (San Fran); DOMINATRIX predated Lords of Acid and Peaches with sexual dance music (NY); and LAURIE ANDERSON made the avant-garde fun and grooving (NY).

song: LiLiPUT, “Eisiger Wind”