More about: The Linda Lindas

After catching popularity through their punchily-titled 'Racist Sexist Boy', and their feature in Amy Poehler’s feminist coming-of-age film Moxie, The Linda Lindas demonstrate the full scope of their talents in new record Growing Up.

The album title is perfectly conceptualised through the sound, the band managing to express all of the classic complications and struggles of growing up and experiencing youth through a noisy and expressive soundscape.

Representing the anger, frustration and punk-ish attitudes of the next generation, The Linda Lindas still manage to have an incredible amount of fun throughout their music. Their sound encapsulates exactly what it’s like to be “young and growing up”, as they say in the title track. They show no boundaries, willing to throw away the expectations of the punk sound whilst equally paying a respectful homage to riot grrrl punk and some of the changing sounds of the genre.

Growing Up explodes into the ever-developing punk renaissance of the 2020s with 'Oh!’s punchy riff. The track is bold, proud and confident, with an absolute earworm of a shouty chorus. It follows straight into 'Growing Up', which is the most pop-punk sounding track of the record. The chorus refrain of "We’ll dance like nobody’s there/We’ll dance without any cares" hits back at the pressures and social awkwardness of the formative “growing up” years. The Linda Lindas are telling us it’s okay to be different, and dance in punkish glee in the face of the struggles and pressure of youth.

This idea of feeling different is seen later in the album with possibly the band’s strongest song yet. 'Cuántas Veces' dabbles with a bossa nova theme in the verses, Spanish vocals and a heavy chorus. The track is probably the band’s most experimental so far, and displays huge potential. 'Nino' is another highlight. Dedicated to singer Bela’s other cat (after her cat Monica had a song written about her for the band’s self-titled EP), it dabbles in psychedelic rock and was an extremely successful single release before the album. 

Another essential listen is the eerie-sounding 'Why', which touches on the band members’ experiences whilst isolating due to Covid-19. It’s important to listen closely to young people as they express their experiences of coronavirus: tracks like 'Why' show how impactful the time has been on the youth, and particularly how difficult it can be to be shut up alone with one’s thoughts for too long. Sometimes the best way to get these thoughts out is through an angsty punk tune, and The Linda Lindas have encapsulated this hopeless, doomful feeling in its entirety. 

The Linda Lindas show incredible potential on Growing Up, whilst also holding together an extremely individual and established sound. They have so much great work to come and this first record, partially written in the coronavirus lockdown and whilst navigating the complications of school, demonstrates the hugely impressive, and cool, talent The Linda Lindas have. The next generation of musicians and music fans should consider themselves extremely lucky to have this group at the forefront of new music for the youth. Growing Up has never been so punk.

Growing Up is out now.

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More about: The Linda Lindas