The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic: Revised and Expanded Edition

by Jessica Hopper, Samantha Irby (Foreword by)

Overview

"Jessica Hopper's criticism is a trenchant and necessary counterpoint not just on music, but on our culture at large." —Annie Clark, St. Vincent

An acclaimed, career-spanning collection from a fiercely feminist and revered contemporary rock critic, reissued with new material

Throughout her career, spanning more than two decades, Jessica Hopper, a revered and pioneering music critic, has examined women recording and producing music, in all genres, through an intersectional feminist lens. The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic features oral histories of bands like Hole and Sleater Kinney, interviews with the women editors of 1970s-era Rolling Stone, and intimate conversations with iconic musicians such as Björk, Robyn, and Lido Pimienta. Hopper journeys through the truths of Riot Grrrl's empowering insurgence; decamps to Gary, Indiana, on the eve of Michael Jackson's death; explodes the grunge-era mythologies of Nirvana and Courtney Love; and examines the rise of emo. The collection also includes profiles and reviews of some of the most-loved, and most-loathed, women artists making music today: Fiona Apple, Kacey Musgraves, M.I.A., Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey.

In order for the music industry to change, Hopper writes, we need “the continual presence of radicalized women . . . being encouraged and given reasons to stay, rather than diminished by the music which glues our communities together.” The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic—published to acclaim in 2015, and reissued now with new material and an introduction by Samantha Irby—is a rallying cry for women-centered history and storytelling, and a groundbreaking, obsessive, razor-sharp panorama of music writing crafted by one of the most influential critics of her generation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374722630
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	07/06/2021
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	448
File size:	892 KB

About the Author

Jessica Hopper is the author of the books The First Collection of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic and Night Moves. Her writing has appeared in GQ, Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, Elle, and Bookforum, among other outlets. A long time contributor to the Chicago Reader, she has been a columnist for the Village Voice and Chicago Tribune, the music consultant for This American Life, the editorial director for MTV News, and a senior editor at Pitchfork and Rookie. Her essays have appeared in several editions of Best Music Writing, and she currently serves as series editor of the American Music Series at the University of Texas Press.

Table of Contents

I Have A Strange Relationship With Music 11

Part 1 Chicago

Emo: Where The Girls Aren't Punk Planet #56, July 2003 15

Chance The Rapper Chicago Magazine, June 2013 21

Viva La Filthy Noise!: Coughs' Secret Passage Chicago Reader, October 2006 24

Sweet Things Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, January 2006 28

And We Remain, Ever So Faithfully, Yours Tinyluckygenius, January 2006 29

Conversation With Jim Derogatis Regarding R. Kelly The Village Yoke, December 2013 32

Part 2 Real/Fake

Gaga Takes a Trip Nashville Scene, April 2011 43

Deconstructing Lana Del Rey Spin Magazine, January 2012 45

Taylor Swift, Grimes and Lana Del Rey: The Year in Blond Ambition Village Voice Pan & Jop Critics Pull, January 2012 51

We Can't Stop: Our Year With Miley Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, Jauuary 2014 54

Louder Than Love: My Teen Grunge Poserdom EMP Conference Paper, Spring 2005 57

Part 3 Nostalgia

When The Boss Went Moral: Bruce Springsteen's Lost Album The American Prospect, November 2010 63

Vedderan: Notes On Pearl Jam's 20^th Anniversary Concert Tinyluckygenius, September 2011 66

You're Reliving All Over Me: Dinosaur Jr. Reunites Chicago Reader, April 2005 69

You Will Ache Like I Ache: The Oral History Of Hole's Live Through This Spin Magazine, April 2014 73

You Know What? Tinyluckygenius, April 2010 89

Part 4 California

Kendrick Lamar: Not Your Average, Everyday Rap Savior Spin Magazine, October 2012 93

California Demise: Tyler, The Creator and Ema Feel The Bad Vibes Village Voice Pazz And Jop Critics Poll, 2011 100

Will The Stink Of Success Ruin The Smell? La Weekly, February 2009 102

Dispatches From The Desert: Coachella Chicago Reader, May 2005 109

Part 5 Faith

The Passion Of David Razan Chicago Reader, July 2009 115

Flirting With Religion: Rickie Lee Jones Chicago Reader, March 2007 123

Why Michael Jackson's Past Might Be Gary, Indiana's Only Future Village Voice, July 2009 126

Superchunk: I Hate Music Spin Magazine, August 2013 129

Between The Viaduct Of Your Dreams: On Van Morrison Tinyluckygenius, July 2008 131

Part 6 Bad Reviews

Miley Cyrus: Bangerz Spin Magazine, October 2013 133

Nu Age: Animal Collective and Bell Orchestre Chicago Reader, November 2005 135

Tyler, The Creator: Wolf Spin magazine, April 2005 138

Old Year's End Tinyluckygenius, December 2007 141

Nevermind Already: Nirvana's 20^th Anniversary Boxset Chicago Reader, September 2011 143

Part 7 Strictly Business

Punk Is Dead! Long Live Punk!: A Report On The State Of Teen Spirit From The Mobile Shopping Mall That Is The Vans Warped Tour Chicago Reader, August 2004 147

Chief Keef Chicago Tribune, August 2013 153

Nude Awakening: Suicide Girls Spin Magazine, February 2006 157

How Selling Out Saved Indie Rock BuzzFeed, November 2013 165

Not Lollapalooza: Rollin Hunt, Screaming Females & Abe Vigoda Chicago Reader, August 2007 176

Part 8 Females

St. Vincent: Strange Mercy Village Voice, November 2011 181

Cat Power: Sun Spin magazine, September 2012 185

SWF, 45: Mecca Normal's The Observer Chicago Reader, April 2006 189

Shouting Out Loud: The Raincoats Portland Mercury, October 2009 193

Making Pop For Capitalist Pigs: M.I.A.'s Maya Chicago Reader, July 2010 196

There Is No Guyville in Sweden: Frida Hyvönen's Until Death Comes Chicago Reader, November 2006 199

Editorial Reviews

[Ms. Hopper's] collection is by turns loose and warm and finicky and outraged, and its best pieces are more observant than 94 percent of the first novels that have come my way this year.

The New York Times - Dwight Garner

★ 05/31/2021

Hopper, music critic and former senior editor at Pitchfork, follows up her groundbreaking feminist treatise on the punk, independent, and mainstream music scenes of the past 20 years with this revised and expanded edition that hits just as hard. Historically, she argues, women have been ignored in the boys’ club of studio producers, promoters, and record makers. These 55 pieces—covering a great variety of artists including Kim Gordon, Rickie Lee Jones, and Nicki Minaj—serve as a scorching critique of the endless hoops female musicians have had to jump through in the male-dominated music scene. In a 2015 Pitchfork review, pop-country star Kacey Musgraves is heralded for transcending the “bro-country” vibe pervasive at the Country Music Awards, while a 2018 profile of Cat Powers discusses how the artist’s talent gets overshadowed by fans’ obsession with her mental health. Essays on Fiona Apple, Liz Phair, and Joni Mitchell underscore the harsh criticism ambitious female performers constantly face (“The year Mitchell issued Blue, an album that would be a landmark in any artist’s career, Rolling Stone named her ‘Old Lady of the Year’ ”), but emphasize how, despite their unjust treatment by industry and critics, women continue to drown out the noise with their music. This fiery work is the literary equivalent of a maxed-out Marshall stack. Agent: Claudia Ballard, WME. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"[The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic is] a rallying cry for anyone who’s ever loved music and anyone who’s ever wanted to change the world." —Marianela D'Aprile, Jacobin

"Prolific and inimitable writer Hopper lays bare a storied career and a true gift for music journalism . . . Hopper’s writing spans generations and genres . . . [She] is an artist whose curiosity about creativity has produced a stunning body of work, both in breadth and skill, and this is her lyrical, observant magnum opus.” —Booklist (starred review)

"[A] revised and expanded edition that hits just as hard . . . This fiery work is the literary equivalent of a maxed-out Marshall stack." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Essential reading . . . A canny blend of punkish attitude and discographical smarts that blasts boys-club assumptions about pop music." —Kirkus (starred review)

"This revised and expanded edition adds several new dimensions . . . The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic enters the turbulence of 2021 as furiously edifying as ever. It ends on a breathtaking afterword that proves, while this might not actually be the first collection of its type, for a generation of punks and radicals – especially those of marginalised genders fighting for their place in the world – it remains the most essential." —Kristy Diaz, The Skinny

Praise for the first edition:

"[The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic] is by turns loose and warm and finicky and outraged, and its best pieces are more observant than 94 percent of the first novels that have come my way this year." —Dwight Garner, The New York Times

"An airtight case for why the professional critic still matters, and why it is a thrill to spend time in the presence of someone whose job it is to care so much and so intelligently." —Kathleen Rooney, Chicago Tribune

"The First Collection is a game-changer, a godsend, and a Holy Grail for those who have been forced to reside on the fringe of the notoriously 'male-dominated sphere' of rock criticism and fandom [...] Hopper's work, influence, and unwavering support for the diversification of voice and perspective within music journalism have altered the landscape of rock criticism for the better. It may be the first collection of criticism written by a female rock critic, but it's definitely not the last." —Dianca Potts, The Village Voice

"A game-changing collection of writing . . . Hopper has created a bible for aspiring writers, not just music critics." —Jessica Goodman, Huffington Post

"Hopper is one of the most vital and prolific music critics around . . . the book brims with Hopper’s lean prose and mic-dropping one-liners." —Paula Mejia, Newsweek

"Jessica Hopper has become a mandatory name in the world of music criticism, and this latest collection is the icing on the cake. At the book’s heart, you’ll find a funny, thoughtful writer whose extensive journalism career cements her as a lasting voice in the genre." —Mack Hayden, Paste

"I read Hopper's work with a sense of bewildered gratitude. She concedes nothing to the idea that it is dumb to care so much. The excitement in her work comes from her faith that these things are worth scrapping about." —Rob Sheffield, author of Love is a Mixtape

From the Publisher

05/01/2015
Male domination throughout rock music's history and criticism is endemic. Both onstage and on the page, female voices are few and far between, despite the vast majority of rock songs being about women. Hopper (senior editor, The Pitchfork Review; music editor, Rookie; The Girls' Guide to Rocking) may not be able to topple this colossal problem singlehandedly, but she's chipped off a few choice bits at the base. The book assembles pieces the author has written for various music and entertainment publications over the last 15 years. As a critic, she brings a perspective that shouldn't be fresh but is, discussing both the old and the new with an intelligence and intensity that can only come from a true music geek. Her Gen-X frame of reference ranges from Eighties alternative rock and grunge through to the present, touching on pop, freak folk, and even Christian rock. Particularly powerful are pieces on indie rocker David Bazan and record producer/rapper R. Kelly. VERDICT Rock music fans of all genders and stripes will find a lot to chew on in these pages.—Brett Rohlwing, Milwaukee P.L.

Library Journal

★ 2021-04-24
A wide-ranging assortment of essays and reportage on rock, pop, country, and hip-hop, conscientiously putting women front and center.

The title of Hopper’s book (which revises and expands a 2015 edition) isn’t a brag but rather an air horn announcing a problem: Just as female musicians have been dismissed, marginalized, and abused by a patriarchal industry, Hopper is just one of many women music journalists who was told “it was perverse to tangle up music criticism with feminism or my personal experience.” So being “first” is as much a lament as an assertion, but the best pieces show how thoughtfully the author has used her position. Essays on Liz Phair, Kim Gordon, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Rey underscore how the negative “personas” applied to them are often used to obscure and undermine their talent. In one emotionally intense interview, Björk reveals how, more than four decades into her career, she’s had to prove she writes her songs. Hopper elevates underappreciated women-led acts like D.C. punks Chalk Circle and calls out misogyny in the system: Her landmark 2003 essay, “Emo: Where the Girls Aren’t,” chastised the scene for confusing sad-boy sensitivity with proactive feminism, and she reports on women country artists’ oft-futile efforts to gain airplay. The author convincingly argues that staying silent on such inequities has consequences, a point underscored by an interview with journalist Jim DeRogatis on R. Kelly’s track record of sexual assault and music journalists’ turning a blind eye to it. Hopper is stronger as a reporter and cultural observer than a track-by-track reviewer; the collection is padded with reviews that reflect her wide range of tastes but are stylistically flat. However, as she points out in the fiery conclusion, the book exists in part to expose other female writers to what’s possible with diligence and a refusal to compromise. In that regard, it’s essential reading. Samantha Irby provides the foreword.

A canny blend of punkish attitude and discographical smarts that blasts boys-club assumptions about pop music.

Kirkus Reviews