The Thousands

‘Girl Power’ may be synonymous for most people with the Spice Girls, but writer Marissa Meltzer is doing her bit to reclaim the phrase from Posh’s cold, bloodless hands. Meltzer’s book Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music gives a great overview of the women who changed the face of music from the ’90s to now, from ‘Revolution Girl Style Now!’ to ‘Teardrops On My Guitar’.

Mixing her own personal anecdotes with interviews from the musician’s front line with the likes of riot grrrl icon Kathleen Hanna and Indigo Girl Amy Ray, Meltzer manages to draw an evolutionary link between Bikini Kill and Britney Spears – without sounding like a university lecturer.

Like any good book, Girl Power makes you feel like you’ve experienced it too – which is handy since we can’t all have come of age in Olympia in the 1990s. Basically if you’re not thinking about starting a band or a zine or listening to a whole lotta angry girl rock by the end of this book – well – I’ll make you a tape.