are the embodiment of a dream we’ve all shared at one time or another. Their story is one straight from a movie: a teenage punk band covering ‘Rebel Girl’ at their very first gig, spotted by legend and asked to open for Bikini Kill.
My own first experience of The Linda Lindas was their set at , where they proudly announced that they had cut school to be there. At the time, drummer Mila de la Garza was just 12 years old. I left the set content that the spirit of punk was safe in the hands of the new generation. Now, their third album ‘Gotta Get Out’ sees the band go from strength to strength, introducing new ideas to their repertoire without compromising on their outspoken politics.
Here, we see the band embrace a melting pot of sounds, jumping between references and moods throughout the album, switching between the personal and the political with ease. Title track ‘Gotta Get Out’ introduces new electronic elements into their trademark punk sound, following in the footsteps of predecessors like and .
‘Burning Out’ is a classic grunge track with a bounding, energetic beat, while ‘Everybody Told Me’ is intricate and dreamlike, softer than what we tend to associate with The Linda Lindas. ‘Okay’ makes optimism an act of resistance; singing ‘Everything will be okay / This isn’t real anyway’ over power chords would sound at home on a Green Day album. There’s an obvious depth of knowledge for alternative music woven into everything they do, a clear love and respect for the genre.
Recent single ‘Blood On Our Hands’ is a love letter to punk at its heaviest and most political, raging loudly against the sorry state of American politics today, covering war crimes, broken healthcare systems and the climate crisis. ‘Break’ reiterates the point with yet more exceptionally cathartic heavy vocals from bassist Eloise Wong.
‘Closer’ sees the four-piece link up with Hayley Williams in what feels like a match made in heaven. One of the more personal tracks on the album, this song counters claustrophobic lyrics about burnout with wide-open instrumentation. Musing on the same sense of fatigue as ‘Burning Out’, it’s one of the more vulnerable moments on the album.
The pièce de résistance is ‘Helado de Limón’, an unexpected combination of punk and surf rock that’s rich in heavy guitar solos and performed by guitarist/vocalist Bela Salazar. With the devastating rise of anti-immigration attitudes in American politics and the demonisation of the Spanish language, this in itself is a political statement from the band.
Their move from Epitaph to Warner-imprint is perhaps a controversial move in DIY punk circles, but make no mistake, their major-label partnership has not softened their politics in the slightest. The spirit of punk is still very much in safe hands.
8/10