Kim Gordon hasn’t pulled any punches in her new memoir Girl in a Band. The Sonic Youth founder and Saint Laurent muse has already called Courtney Love "manipulative, egomaniacal"; Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan a "cry-baby", and rounded it off with some pretty unflattering remarks about her bandmate and former husband Thurston Moore. But she's also unimpressed with some younger musicians, too – chiefly, Lana Del Rey and her take on feminism.
In an excerpt from the book Gordon writes: "Today we have someone like Lana Del Rey, who doesn’t even know what feminism is, who believes women can do whatever they want, which, in her world, tilts toward self-destruction, whether it’s sleeping with gross old men or getting gang raped by bikers."
Del Rey has already publicly stated her disinterest with feminism. She once declared in a Fader interview, "Whenever people bring up feminism, I’m like, god. I’m just not really that interested... My idea of a true feminist is a woman who feels free enough to do whatever she wants."
Gordon also slated the 29-year-old New Yorker for romanticising death. “If she really truly believes it’s beautiful when young musicians go out on a hot flame of drugs and depression, why doesn’t she just off herself?” writes Gordon.
The Born To Die singer was accused of glorifying the death of young artists after her controversial “I wish I was dead already” interview with the Guardian last year. Del Rey sought to defend herself after the interview in now-deleted tweets, saying the interviewer had misrepresented her with “leading questions about death and persona”.
Girl in a Band will be released later this month. From these early previews, it’s safe to assume that Kim Gordon is definitely prepared to ruffle a few feathers.
