Viva! Cibo Matto: Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Their Breakthrough Debut LP
With
Rewind, KEXP digs out beloved albums, giving them another look. In honor of
Pushing Boundaries, and in celebration of the album s 25th anniversary, KEXP s Janice Headley revisits
Cibo Matto s genre-defying 1996 debut full-length
Viva! La Woman
It seemed like things were getting better for women in ‘90s alt-rock. No, really, hear me out.
The punk movement of the ‘80s paved the way, with icons like
Siouxsie Sioux,
Blondie,
Patti Smith wielding the sledgehammers. You could find more female faces on the stage, not just in the audience… sure, they were often playing bass, but, hey, I said things were getting better, not stupendous. The Riot Grrrl movement emerged early in the decade, calling for a revolution, y know, girl style. There was even Lilith Fair, which, look, I know it became a bit of a punchline, but it was a radical concept at the time and a defiant response to c