The title of Jessica Hopper’s new book speaks volumes. The First Collection of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic may be a bit of a mouthful but you can’t say the editor-in-chief of Pitchfork Review is ignoring the elephant in the room.
Hopper was a Babes In Toyland fan who took the fanzine route before paying work came her way. The book’s 40 pieces are a snapshot of her 20 years in the business including pieces on R Kelly, Lana Del Rey and Hole, ruminations on the excitement of Riot grrrl and a poke around the emo movement’s problem with women.
Besides providing a strong throughline with her whipsmart writing, Hopper also makes you realise how rare it is to see the work of female rock writers collected in this way.
While there have been many female rock critics before now – Hopper lists Ellen Willis, Lillian Roxon and Caroline Coon in the book, and you can add Jane Scott, Ann Powers, Sylvie Simmons, Dream Hampton and Jaan Uhelszki to that roll-call – it’s always the old boys’ club of Lester Bangs, Greil Marcus, Robert Christgau, the over-rated Chuck Klosterman and others who dominate the discourse.
“Sometimes you have to wave a flag around any sort of precedent in order to make a path,” said Hopper in an interview about her book. “Not to sound too Jesus-y about it, but I wanted to put this book out to create the precedent . . . I want books from Hazel Cills and Doreen St Felix, and every single person that works at Rookie.”
