'Hit Girls' by Jen B. Larson
Stonie Rivera gazes from the back cover, adding credibility to what many Milwaukee music folks already knew: That female artists were key members in the era when a musical revolution took place.
Broken up into six regions of the United States, author Jen. B. Larson’s book is equal parts fanzine, sociological survey and love letter to female artists who were at best cult figures—yet their work has rippled across time to influence others.
“… hell, I wasn’t even born until 1985. I am simply fanning the flames of the artists’ lore,” Larson writes in the author’s note in her book, Hit Girls - Women of Punk in the USA, 1975-1983.
Milwaukee gets due recognition: The Dummy Club (Rivera and bassist Jana Blackwell); Ama-Dots (vocalist Boolah Hayes and bassist Lisa Wicklund) and The Shivvers Jill Kossoris. Rivera’s thoughtful comments touch on sexism, racism and ageism—all the while connecting to her attraction to music, dance and visual arts. Kossoris offers a snapshot into what it was like simply trying to be recognized as an artist on her own terms. Larson’s description of The Ama-Dots is spot on, they “…could easily be identified as subconscious seed material for Industrial, Goth and anarcho-punk bands of the future.”
A few of the groups Larson spotlights have managed second acts, reuniting or kickstarting dormant passions (Memphis band The Klitz, St. Louis’ The Welders, Pylon’s Vanessa Brisco Hay) while others passed away far too soon (Patty Donahue of The Waitresses, Algebra Suicide’s Lydia Tomkiw and Paula Pierce and Kim Shattuck of The Pandoras).
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Larson’s inner fan shines through as much as her scholarly framework. Lydia Lunch, Ann Magnuson and Wendy O. Williams may be better known but if Alaska group Anemic Boyfriends, Tex Horseheads, DNA or UT pique your interest this book is a fine gateway. Larson characterizes her subjects as “under the radar.” Perhaps, but there are plenty of us who have or will tune in to her wavelength.
