Girl With the Most Cake: An Appreciation of the ’90s Alt-Rock Woman Inline

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    1/17

    "Rebel girl, rebel girl/You are the queen of my world." Bikini Kill—most famously the band's front woman, Kathleen Hanna (pictured)—were Olympia, Washington's elder stateswomen of the riot grrrl movement.

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    2/17

    Where outspoken stars are concerned, few can compete with Vatican favorite Sinéad O'Connor.

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    3/17

    Brit songstress PJ Harvey has an MBE and two Mercury music awards to show for her brand of raw power. Starting January 16, she'll take to Somerset House to record her ninth album in public view.

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    4/17

    The Breeders, fronted by founding Pixies member Kim Deal and sister Kelley, and seen here on set with Conan.

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    5/17

    Bassist D'arcy Wretzky may have departed the Smashing Pumpkins on less-than-amicable terms, but her willowy, platinum-haired presence still looms large in the band's legacy.

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    6/17

    Before there were Juergen's Céline campaigns, there was this snap of Liz Phair, taken not long after the release of 1993's iconic Exile in Guyville.

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    7/17

    Courtney Love may or may not have lifted her "kinderwhore" look from Babes in Toyland's Kat Bjelland, but it was certainly the Hole front woman who brought the style to the larger public consciousness.

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    8/17

    Less remembered than many of their contemporaries are Chicago alt-rockers Veruca Salt, who enjoyed a hit with "Seether" and some play in the 1999 Rose McGowan black-comedy vehicle, Jawbreaker.

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    9/17

    L7 was more than just a bunch of L.A. metal babes—in 1991 the group launched Rock for Choice, the pro-choice answer to Live Aid's benefit concerts.

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    10/17

    One of Iceland's most blissfully bizarre exports: Björk, the subject of a massive retrospective bowing at MoMA this spring.

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    11/17

    Babes in Toyland front woman Kat Bjelland's dolly dresses belied an unholy howl that put the Minneapolis punk threesome on the map. They'll reunite in February for the first time since disbanding in 2001.

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    12/17

    As the singer for SoCal ska-pop outfit No Doubt, Gwen Stefani rose to fame with her impressive pipes—and arguably more impressive abs.

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    13/17

    Even My Bloody Valentine's signature distortion-drenched sound couldn't detract from the otherworldly vocals of Bilinda Butcher.

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    14/17

    A little bit witchy, a little bit weird, and decidedly singular, Newport, Rhode Island's Throwing Muses was the first American band to sign to the pioneering British 4AD—just before friends and future labelmates the Pixies.

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    15/17

    Fans of riot grrrl supergroup Sleater-Kinney, rejoice: This week, guitarist (and Portlandia star) Carrie Brownstein announced plans for a memoir, due out in the fall.

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    16/17

    New York's pop-punk-metal foursome Lunachicks served up music faster, louder, and crasser than that of many of their male peers.

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    17/17

    Arguably fashion's favorite alt-rock icon? Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, whose famously taciturn persona has only served to bolster interest in Girl in a Band, her memoir due out this February.