Okay I would never use the term ‘Riot Grrrrl’ but because this zine unabashedly describes itself as a ‘Riot Grrrl’ zine, I am left with little choice but to use this strange misleading word, not only once, but three whole times in the same sentence. That said, Musk Gland Sally (now there’s a buncha words worth repeating) do make an effort to reclaim/redefine the term more through the prose they print than through the feel good article “What is a Riot Grrrl Anyway” by a California Riot Grrrl (self-described) named Spirit. The diary/essay on Karla Homolka makes the standard post post pre-feminist point that Homolka is just as much of a freak as Bernardo but it does so with speed and then segues into a much more interesting couple of paragraphs on attending a self-defense work-shop for women. Throw that in with a Fugazi interview — “what do you think of the feminist movement?”– and reviews of Canadian and US indie music — who doesn’t love that new Palace Bros CD? — and you get a pretty good idea of where they’re going with this Riot Grrrl thing (ouch, again). Sophisticated anger with an everyone’s-welcome twist. Barbie and Karla, Karla and Barbie, Karbie and Barla….
zine / #1 / publishers: Sigrun and Yuki / main creators: Sigrun and Yuki (editors) / $3 / 150 Barrington Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M4C 4Z2