Reject All American

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
With three years since their last album, Pussy Whipped, and only a few 7-inch singles in the meantime, Bikini Kill had loads of time to become a band that stands on its own merits. Reject All American, their 1996 sophomore release, reveals a refined punk band with increased clarity, verified competence, and expanded range. While the band's heart still lies in the sneering brat punk of the Sex Pistols or X-Ray Spex--heard here on thrilling two-minute slices of attitude like "Capri Pants" and "Statement of Vindication"--the band also gives a go at airy alt rock (bassist Kathi Wilcox's jangly "False Start"), classic new wave pop (the title track's Go-Go's chorus), and even drops a trumpet and xylophone into the mix. Still, it's Kathleen Hanna's words and vocals that have matured most and remain the band's primary strength. It's enough to make you proud: Just look at how our little grrrl has grown. --Roni Sarig

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Tracks:

Statement Of Vindication
Capri pants
Jet Ski
Distinct Complicity
False Start
R.I.P.
No Backrub
Bloody Ice Cream
For Only
Tony Randall
Reject All American
Finale

Amazon.com

With three years since their last album, Pussy Whipped, and only a few 7-inch singles in the meantime, Bikini Kill had loads of time to become a band that stands on its own merits. Reject All American, their 1996 sophomore release, reveals a refined punk band with increased clarity, verified competence, and expanded range. While the band's heart still lies in the sneering brat punk of the Sex Pistols or X-Ray Spex--heard here on thrilling two-minute slices of attitude like "Capri Pants" and "Statement of Vindication"--the band also gives a go at airy alt rock (bassist Kathi Wilcox's jangly "False Start"), classic new wave pop (the title track's Go-Go's chorus), and even drops a trumpet and xylophone into the mix. Still, it's Kathleen Hanna's words and vocals that have matured most and remain the band's primary strength. It's enough to make you proud: Just look at how our little grrrl has grown. --Roni Sarig

Customer Reviews:

YOU ARE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY.......2006-01-14

This is by far Bikini Kill's poppiest album, and that doesn't mean they've become tame!
I dare not say they have "matured", because their previous statements were powerful and become more true everytime you listen to them. The roar of Pussy Whipped, the prevalescence of DIY and the screech of guitars in CD Version, the stylish Singles, are milestones in the history of punk rock.

The sound of Reject All American is different from any of BKs other work. The breathtaking surfer vibe, the catchy hooks and unfogettable lines Kathleen throws at you. Bikini Kill delivers everything from compelling and tuneful slower numbers (R.I.P, For Only, False Start, Tony Randall), to our beloved fast loud fun political little pieces (Statement of Vindication, Capri Pants, No Backrub--- BEEN PROGRAMMED TO SELF DESTRUCT, Bloody Ice Cream, Finale). There's pop songs like Jet Ski and Reject All American... this album wont' wear out!

Maybe it isn't the "girls with the bad reputation" at their rawest, but they sure as hell are gonna "make you pay" anyways. Tobi's and Kathleen's vocals are as mind blowing as ever, the songwriting is every time more brilliant! only word I can find to describe it.

If you are honestly gonna judge this according to its "poppiness", you lose. Bikini Kill win. They can't lose, they're the real princesses.

My favorite tracks are Statement of Vindication, R.I.P, Jet Ski, No Backrub, Bloody Ice Cream, Distinct Complicity, and Capri Pants

Do not reject this album.......2005-10-20

Postoje samo dva punk beda. Sex Pistols i Bikini Kill.
Sve ostalo sto se svrstava za punk je smesno.
Punk kultura je jedno a punk muzika je nesto sasvim drugo.
Reject All American je jedan od onih albuma koji zasluzuje svaku paznju i pohvalu.

We are turning cursive letters into knives.......2004-08-04

Bikini Kill were one of the original riot grrrl bands in the early '90s. This was their last album, and more polished than their previous works. I think it's an awesome album and a great place to start with Bikini Kill. All the songs are excellent, there is not a single bad song on here. My favorites being 'Statement of Vindication', 'Capri Pants', 'Jet Ski', 'Tony Randall', 'Reject All American', and 'Finale'. Kathleen Hanna's voice takes some warming up to at first, but before you know it you suddenly fall in love with her snotty brat girl voice. I'm really glad I've found out about this band and I wish we had bands like Bikini Kill still around. Female musicians are so overlooked, it's a shame.

Reject all american.......2004-04-06

Back in the mid to late '90s, I was not the goth/industrial loving freak that I am now. I was much more into punk music. I was so anti-establishment. One of my favorite punk albums that has really shaped my disdain for major record labels was "Reject All American" by Bikini Kill. I thought at the time this was the most brilliant cd I had ever heard because Kathleen Hannah and co. totally eschewed mainstream rock aesthetic in terms of playing polished rock music. "Reject All American" was definitely one of the angriest cds I had ever heard. The razor sharp lyrics of Kathleen Hannah resonated with me. And as raw and unpolished the music was, there still was a pop sensibility to the songs. They were all incredibly catchy and melodic just like The Ramones' music was. I especially love the ferociousity of the opening track "Statement of Vindication" and the incredibly infectious "Capri Pants" and the title track. I haven't listened to "Reject All American" in a few years because my musical tastes has evolved over the years but as I am listening to it, I find myself falling in love with the music once again. Sometimes the greatest bands don't always have the longest careers in music, and Bikini Kill is definitely one of them. Bikini Kill was a pure representation to how bands should operate which is totally free of major record label and to forego the typical rock aesthetic and the unspoken rules that goes with being a rock star.

The Last Pogo.......2003-12-31

The product of considerable maturation on the part of the now-defunct Olympia/DC/Olympia Bikini Kill, *Reject All American* was an era-defining record: the last good-faith attempt to recreate the energy of '77 Britain hitting American shores. But Kathleen Hanna's Jam t-shirt in the liner notes might tip the serious observer to the fact this is music with less-than-universal intent. Closely tied as it was to Evergreen State College, the Olympia Riot Grrl sound was a mark of the mentality of educated lower-middle-class youth in the late '90s: far from learning old ways to be young, they were trying work out the contradictions of a cultural "long present" inherited from people one felt to be one's contemporaries.

Whether or not such efforts succeeded, Hanna has succeeded at not being a revivalist and this is some proof: the models for the band's sound are not actually evident, as the influences for the direction of the musical movement were autochtonic rather than mediatized -- the '97 Bikini Kill listener would be thinking of Bratmobile and Sleater-Kinney, rather than Pamela Des Barres or Joan Jett and the Runaways. Has the music stood up well? Yes, and this is a testament to the less-than-total standardization of the American cultural present -- there are really many people who remember this period fondly, and if it's not quite the right attitude for the present feel that this reflects rather badly on the present (no sentiments were harmed in its production). An absolute must-exist, a truly worthwhile purchase.

Music:

Music

music

Music

Track 10

Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2; Polonaise; Nocturne; 2 Etüden

Baroque Music from the Kromeriz Archives

Community Service

Chariot of Astral Light [Enhanced]

Bills Bills Bills [CD-single]

Best Toddler Tunes

Cello Concerto / Schelomo / Adagio

Best of Remixed [Import]

2907 [Explicit Lyrics]

Chaotica

Anima Soul [Import]

Chewing Gum Pt.1 [CD-single]

16 Classic Blues Songs from the 1920's, Vol. 2: My Black Mama

Hangin' Tough