Without a doubt, Kathleen Hanna is one of the most important female figures in punk rock. Bikini Kill is one of my favorite riot grrrl bands. But few people are aware that before Bikini Kill Kathleen Hanna fronted a short-lived Olympia band called Viva Knieval.
The four-song 7" from Viva Knieval was released in 1990 on Ultra-Sound Records. I'm unsure if any of the other members aside from Kathleen Hanna went on to or were in notable bands, aside form bassist Zeb (a.k.a. Louise Olsen) who prior to Viva Knieval played with The Go Team (The Olympia, WA band with Calvin Johnson, Tobi Vail, Kurt Cobain, etc... not the current UK band).
Viva Knieval went on a two-month tour and when they returned to Olympia after tour, it was then Kathleen Hanna hooked up with Tobi Vail and started Bikini Kill and if you don't know the story from there, you can buy the Bikini Kill catalog at the Kill Rock Stars website. I recommend the three 7"s (of course) or the compilation CD which collects all three singles, aptly titled "The Singles", as a good starting point.
To my knowledge this four-song self-titled 7", recorded in Minneapolis, is the band's only recorded output, released after they disbanded, and pressed in an edition of 1000 copies. This is pretty raw and there's some vocal parts that you have to push through, but overall it is a great document of a female musician who would become one of the most influential figures in the riot grrrl movement of the 90's.
NOTE: The track listing on the back cover and the center labels have the order of the B-side songs switched. The track listing below and the order of the MP3's is from the center label song order.
VIVA KNIEVAL - self-titled 7" (Ultra-Sound Records)
01. Boy Poison
02. Die Vermin
03. Dog
04. Kalvinater
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