heavens to betsy put their name in lowercase letters (even if many publications do not follow suit) in reference to, or at least inspired by, the feminist writer and theorist bell hooks. “I had been in this very thought provoking environment,” Tucker said about her time at Evergreen. “But the voice I was using was very personal. That was inspired by listening to Bikini Kill and Bratmobile.” 

Riot grrrl stays relevant because (enduring misogyny) they prove the entry point to performance, art, writing, and punk in particular is a borrowed drum kit and something to say. Their music pulls the listener into what feels like the most Joan Jett girl-in-school’s bedroom – where you get to see her posters, her favourite records, and how she thinks. She might even tell you what pisses her off and how she plans to kick her dad’s ass!

By the time heavens to betsy recorded Tucker and Sawyer had already acquired a drum kit in bits and pieces on a trip to Atlanta to study its music scene. (Back when they called themselves This, That, and The Other.) From there they switched the name, borrowed ideas from academic feminism and the voice of their riot grrrl predecessors, and combined it with wisdom earned from their own lives. This perfect tonic still inspires riot grrrls around the world.

heavens to betsy wish they could tour  like Bob Dylan or Iggy Pop might play a newly discovered demo tape, as a fun jaunt to a bygone era, but riot grrrls don’t have the luxury. “I would much rather talk about  in a historical context, like, ‘Oh this was back when things were so much worse.’ Instead of what we are dealing with today: The rollback of women’s rights,” Tucker says in a dead pan. 

The heavens to betsy resurgence reminds us of riot grrrl’s intentions when they started in 1990: to show women and girls they can do this too. “I’m impressed that we were able to record knowing that it wasn’t polished and that we weren’t the best musicians in the world while feeling like we wanted to get our music out there. It was coming from a place of frustration, but also love,” Sawyer tells me.

riot grrrl alone would never be enough to bring about universal human rights, though they made massive waves, or several dozen ripples, or at least some punk rock . Maybe – I don’t know, you can go see heavens to betsy on tour this fall and borrow their courage to start something too.