The Julie Ruin: Hit Reset review – Kathleen Hanna’s fizzing return

The Julie Ruin’s second album literally resets the career of the post-riot grrrl band and its frontwoman Kathleen Hanna, the movement’s reluctant spokeswoman, whose chronic illness forced the band off the road in 2014. With Lyme disease in abeyance, these 13 new songs fizz and rage with a mixture of girl-group sass (key track: Rather Not) and surf-garage buzz. No one could accuse Hanna of ducking issues (see Bikini Kill or Le Tigre, previous Hanna outfits), but Hit Reset is even more personal, with the title track recalling her father, and the closing piano ballad (yes, piano ballad) a love song to her mother. The particularly excellent Hello Trust No One combines synth-pop with Hanna’s transcendental ranting, still one of the seven wonders of the punk world.