The Julie Ruin

As a young feminist in the early '90s, Kathleen Hanna dabbled in spoken word before recognizing an unexpected source of power for her lyrics: punk rock, a genre known for sidelining female fans and musicians with its raucous, often violent culture. The resulting band, Bikini Kill, called young women to confront misogyny with a knee to the groin; numerous other “riot grrrl” bands followed. The Julie Ruin moniker began as Hanna’s solo effort in 1998, emerging as a self-titled collection of sample-driven bedroom recordings just as lyrically provocative as those by Bikini Kill. Hanna and fellow Bikini Kill alum Kathi Wilcox revived the Julie Ruin as a group effort in 2013. Their second album as a full band, Hit Reset, dropped last week, giving followers a deeper understanding of Hanna’s treacherous childhood and numerous battles with those attempting to trash her revolution. To match the searing subject matter, the band adds grating guitars and scorching synths to create no-nonsense post-punk. Hanna’s long-standing history as both a feminist and human rights activist makes this show just as pertinent now as it was 20 years ago. (Bethany Kaufman)