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The Julie Ruin: Run Fast
TJR Records
Tour Dates
Apr 01 Flywheel Easthampton, MA
Apr 03 The Sinclair Cambridge, MA Apr 04 Il Motore Montreal, Canada Apr 05 Virgin Mobile Mod Club Toronto, Canada Apr 07 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, OH Apr 08 The Loving Touch Ferndale, MI Apr 09 Lincoln Hall Chicago, IL Apr 11 Mr. Smalls Theatre Millvale, PA Apr 12 Asbury Lanes Asbury Park, NJ Read More
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It's hard to believe it's been 17 years since Kathleen Hanna released her post-Bikini Kill solo album and feminist classic, Julie Ruin. Since that time things went a little off-course. Hanna had planned to put together a band to tour the album, but that band turned into Le Tigre, who released three albums between 1999 and 2004. Le Tigre went on hiatus in 2006 and since that time Hanna has kept a low-profile, due mainly to her debilitating bout with Lyme Disease. However, she is now on the mend and has resurrected her earlier ambitions with The Julie Ruin – a band composed of Hanna's former Bikini Kill bandmate Kathi Wilcox, Kiki and Herb member Kenny Mellman, Carmine Covelli, and Sara Landeau.
And let’s face it – this world really needs Kathleen Hanna right now. With legislative attacks on women occurring on an almost-daily basis, her fiery feminist perspective has been sorely missed. However, unlike her earlier work, The Julie Ruin’s debut album, Run Fast, is more sad nostalgia than feminist fury. Perhaps it’s the reunion with her old bandmate Kathi Wilcox, her battle with illness, or the donation of her old riot grrl writings and memorabilia to a museum, but many of these songs find Hanna looking back at her Bikini Kill days and trying to put them into perspective. “Drove all night through the dirty melted snow / Didn’t care if we ever got played on the radio / Held ourselves together with tape and twine / Wielded confidence like it was a shiny knife,” sings Hanna nostalgically in “Goodnight Goodbye” before zeroing in on the dilemma of being a middle-aged punk icon: “It happens when you’re not 20 but 41 / And you have to sink in to the you you’ve now become / Will the teenage sneer that you so cultivated / Sneer back at you and make you feel so hated?”
The seriousness of the subject matter is softened by the fun, 60’s pop sound of the band and Kathleen’s energetic singing, as heard in the first single Oh Come On. And as we know from her Le Tigre and Bikini Kill days, Kathleen Hanna’s stage presence is a rare pleasure to behold. After a handful of teaser dates last year, The Julie Ruin is back for a short North American tour in April – and if she comes to your town, I’d highly suggest you go.
And let’s face it – this world really needs Kathleen Hanna right now. With legislative attacks on women occurring on an almost-daily basis, her fiery feminist perspective has been sorely missed. However, unlike her earlier work, The Julie Ruin’s debut album, Run Fast, is more sad nostalgia than feminist fury. Perhaps it’s the reunion with her old bandmate Kathi Wilcox, her battle with illness, or the donation of her old riot grrl writings and memorabilia to a museum, but many of these songs find Hanna looking back at her Bikini Kill days and trying to put them into perspective. “Drove all night through the dirty melted snow / Didn’t care if we ever got played on the radio / Held ourselves together with tape and twine / Wielded confidence like it was a shiny knife,” sings Hanna nostalgically in “Goodnight Goodbye” before zeroing in on the dilemma of being a middle-aged punk icon: “It happens when you’re not 20 but 41 / And you have to sink in to the you you’ve now become / Will the teenage sneer that you so cultivated / Sneer back at you and make you feel so hated?”
The seriousness of the subject matter is softened by the fun, 60’s pop sound of the band and Kathleen’s energetic singing, as heard in the first single Oh Come On. And as we know from her Le Tigre and Bikini Kill days, Kathleen Hanna’s stage presence is a rare pleasure to behold. After a handful of teaser dates last year, The Julie Ruin is back for a short North American tour in April – and if she comes to your town, I’d highly suggest you go.
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