''The Singles'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

of three singles by punk rock band

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the ...

. The album was released in 1998 by

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally known ...

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

produces, plays guitar and sings on the first three tracks. In 2018, Bikini Kill reissued the album on CD and 12" vinyl.

Music and lyrics

The album is made up of three singles released by Bikini Kill: "New Radio", produced by Joan Jett, was released in 1993; and "The Anti-Pleasure Dissertation" 7" and "I Like Fucking", released in 1995. The album "largely deals in the pursuit and politics of joy", with drummer

Tobi Vail Tobi Celeste Vail (born July 20, 1969) is an American independent musician, music critic and feminist activist from Olympia, Washington. She was a central figure in the riot grrl scene—she coined the spelling of "grrl"—and she started the zi ...

singing on two of the songs. "Demirep" – a word defined in the 7" liner notes as a "woman of doubtful repute; an adventuress" – opens with singer

Kathleen Hanna Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician, artist, feminist activist, pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. In the early-to-mid-1990s she was the lead singer of feminist punk band ...

and Jett playing the

hand game Hand games are games played using only the hands of the players. Hand games exist in a variety of cultures internationally, and are of interest to academic studies in ethnomusicology and music education. Hand games are used to teach music liter ...

"Miss Mary Mack". "I Hate Danger" – b-side to "I Like Fucking", and one of the songs sung by Vail – is a metaphor for the systemic silencing of women, and features girl-group vocals.

Critical reception

''The Singles'' received positive reviews, with most critics citing the brighter, poppier production as a highlight.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

rated the album 4 out of 5 stars, saying "there's no noisy, murky, meandering at all, and the brighter production and melodic hooks pack a wallop."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

also reviewed the album positively, citing Bikini Kill's intensity, and called ''The Singles'' "striking and impressive." In 2018, Jenn Pelly, writing for

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

, rated the album Best New Reissue in an extensive review with a 10 out of 10 rating. She called ''The Singles'' "the defining document of the feminist punk band whose music remains relevant, righteous, and unflappably cool.", and described Bikini Kill as "a scream in the face of silence, shattering it, casting its bondage into stark relief."

Track listing

Personnel

* Kathleen Hanna - vocals (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8), bass (4, 9) * Kathi Wilcox - bass (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8), drums (4, 9) * Billy Karren - guitar * Tobi Vail - drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8), vocals (4, 9) * Joan Jett - vocals (1, 2, 3), guitar (1, 2, 3)

References

__FORCETOC__ 1998 compilation albums Bikini Kill albums Kill Rock Stars compilation albums {{1990s-punk-album-stub