Firsties and Faves with Modern Day Riot Grrrls Kitten Forever

Don't even think about asking Twin Cities grunge trio Kitten Forever if they need a guitarist because they don't want one and it's damn sure not going to be some dude. Sorry not sorry. Kitten Forever is Laura, Liz, and Corrie, and always has been. These three best friends have been been steadily winning the Minneapolis punk scene for the past eight years with their rolicking riot-grrrl rawk. With just one gliterry gold bass guitar and microphone shaped like a vintage Princess telephone, Kitten Forever are the cool big sisters of Midwest D.I.Y. And even though they could beat the shit out of Josie and the Pussycats with their brutal, bass-driven routine, Kitten Forever would never do that, because they're all about feminist empowerment and inclusivity. Rasied on Kill Rock Stars compillations as teenage girls in the pre-internet era, this band can't help but to tout their riot-grrrl influences. But in order for a female band in 2015 to effectively evoke the spirit of a movement that took place 20 years ago, it's important to recognize its flaws, as they do in a recent PBS mini-doc made about them: "Riot grrrl wasn't particularly inclusive of women of color or transgender issues. I think for all the good that it did, it did a lot of things wrong. Young women today are talking about feminism in ways that riot grrrl didn't even touch on."

So listen. The riot grrrl aesthetic has changed and you best keep up. You can still be a riot grrrl, even if your vibe is flowers, colors, glitter, kittens, etc. This is 2015. Beyonce is a riot grrrl. Caitlyn Jenner is a riot grrrl. To knock down binaries is the fundamental creed. This band is living, breathing, screaming proof that you can live out your teenage punk rock dreams even when you're close to thirty because as we all know, girl-power is (kitten) literally forever. We talked to the self-identified permateens about a few of their firsties and faves.

We talked to the self-identified permateens about a few of their firsties and faves.

First concert?
Laura: Spice Girls, Spiceworld Tour 1998 (post-Geri Halliwell)
Liz: Amy Grant at the Minnesota State Fair with my family. Then Sugar Ray when I was in middle school with friends. I have really good taste in music, so, ya know.
Corrie: Lilith Fair 1999 baby, I remember crying during “Adia” by Sarah McGlaughlin and also yelling at a guy who offered me and my friend a joint, “WE’RE 14 ASSHOLE" Fave make-out track?
Laura: Anything that doesn’t make me cry
Liz: The menu screen music on the American Psycho DVD.
Corrie: A really loud fan

First tattoo?
Laura: A Kurt Cobain sketch of a seahorse that people always mistake for a very poorly drawn snake.
Liz: An xacto knife on my forearm, five days after my 18th birthday. Do not regret.
Corrie: “her blacks crackle and drag” - the last line of the last Sylvia Plath poem, alone on my 18th birthday Fave fictional band?
Laura: Mystik Spiral
Liz: Crucial Taunt (Those gloves!!!)
Corrie: Definitely Lily Taylor’s character COREY from Say Anything when she sings that song “Joe Lies"

First song you learned to play?
Laura: Oh god, probably the live version of “It’s Been Awhile” by Staind feat. Fred “I’M FEELIN’ THOSE LIGHTERS” Durst

Corrie: “Come As You Are” by Nirvana Fave young adult novel?

Corrie: Harry Potter 4 life

Laura: HAARRRYYYYY

Liz: Kitten Forever is a Harry Potter family

First heart break?

Laura: Does the time when I was 8 years old and my dad cut into a steak and “moo”-ed count?

Liz: When I found out the Easter Bunny wasn't real because a giant bunny sounds fun and cute.

Corrie: I “dated” a boy I met at camp once when I was around 12 or 13 and I remember the first time we talked on the phone all he did was talk about his basketball team for like, a half an hour. It was my first real experience with the male ego and disappointment. We broke up shortly after. Fave local Minneapolis band?
Laura: Channel Surf.
Liz: Half-Tramp! She just played her first show last week and it ruled. She is like a baby Jessica Lea Mayfield.

Corrie: There was this band called Ass that basically plucked me and my first band out of the suburbs when I was in high school and brought me to my first house show. I owe them my whole punk life and they’re my eternal favorites. Members are now in a great band called Oaks. Right now I’m also really into The Drug Budget, Whatever Forever, Yoni Yum, and Boyf.

First drug experience:
Laura: My friends and I bought a bunch of packets of morning glory seeds from a gardening center and all I got was this debilitating stomachache.
Liz: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Corrie: I’m pretty sure my mom is going to read this. Fave spice girl:
Laura: BABY 4 LIFE

Liz: All of them. Girl power.

Corrie: I was always half in love and half in hate with Posh. Looking back on it she actually might have been the first woman that I really compared my looks to and ended up feeling inadequate. Oops! First job?
Laura: TEX MEX 4 LIFE

Corrie: Picking pumpkins and throwing them into the back of a truck in Savage, MN. Laura and I grew up in the suburbs. Fave Kitten Forever show?
Probably the first show we played where we started switching instruments. We were coming back from a long hiatus and hadn’t played a show in months and we were really nervous. I think we surprised ourselves and everyone at the show by totally nailing it and after it was over it was one of those things where you just lie face-down on the floor with emotion. It was a really big turning point for us and definitely felt really important. Josie and the Pusscats or Jem and the Holograms?
Liz: Josie and the Pussycats for sure but only from the early 2000s movie because it's perfect and I love it. The soundtrack still holds up. First rock star crush?
Laura: I didn’t want to be WITH a rock star, I wanted to BE a rock star, amirate?!

Liz: Are Hanson rock stars? To me they are. Taylor Hanson forever.

Corrie: lololololol probably Gavin Rossdale from Bush or Daniel Johns from Silverchair. Idk how I got into BOTH these bands before NIRVANA. Fave member of one direction? RIP Zayne.
Liz: I only know Harry Styles by name so I guess him

Laura: I don’t understand the question, and I refuse to answer it.

Corrie: Team Taylor all the way

Bryn Lovitt is an editor at Noisey who also loves flowers, colors, glitter, kittens, etc. Follow her on Twitter.