The teenage band is determined to inspire change with their infectious pop punk.
The coolest band in the universe is hours off from playing their first - ever headlining show in NYC and there ’s only one thing at the top of their to - do leaning . Before they vocalise chit , they are set to getbubble tea . Luckily , Lazy Sundaesin the Lower East Side is just a few block away fromMercury Loungewhere they are playing .
try different boba place on every tour plosive speech sound has become a rite for the late punk rock band you need to know , The Linda Lindas . Well , it ’s become their lonesome tour ritual — the LA - based four - part made up of 11- , 14- , 15- , and 17 - year - old teenage girls just played their first slate of shows outside of their family state , following the March release of their launching albumGrowing Up . The group has made the rounds in the LA scene for the past few age and gained support from other musician like riot grrrl groundbreaker Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill , but ever since avideo went viralin spring 2021 of them do their original strain " Racist , Sexist Boy , " and landing a record deal with alternative purveyors Epitaph Records concisely after , they ’ve been well on their elbow room to sway stardom .
" We get boba all the time — allthe prison term , " says guitar player Bela Salazar . " Our goal for when we travel is in every station we have to find two boba place to try . "
Lucia de la Garza, Eloise Wong, Mila de la Garza, and Bela Salazar|Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist
" If they have it , " adds bassist / vocalist Eloise Wong . ( As the group features two sisters , a cousin , and a womb-to-tomb family Quaker , the close quartette frequently finishes each other ’s sentences . ) Salazar preserve , " This is the first running at it . We were staying in the desert and we did not detect any . We did get meth emollient , though . " San Francisco , they say , was a success . And so is New York , where they visitedTiger SugarinKoreatownand now Lazy Sundaes .
" We have n’t been to this topographic point before , so this is exciting , " say guitar player / vocalist Lucia de la Garza . " I wanted to get the Korean Shaved Ice . " She did , and it looks so sugary and delicious that , before she even has a sip , her younger sister , drummer / vocalist Mila de la Garza , says , " You have to let me have some of that . " ( Mila herself got a Thai Iced Tea , Salazar order a Rose Matcha , and Wong went with a hot Jasmine Green Tea . )
Homework , on the other hand , does n’t get as much attention from the center and high schoolers . " I’msobehind on my preparation , " Eloise groans , as the respite of the grouping responds with a corporate , " Same ! " while they tope their tea and discuss what a whirlwind their week - tenacious , first trip to NYC as a striation has been . When there ’s four nights of show to take on with ' ninety punk caption Jawbreaker , homework can be hard to get to , even if schoolhouse resumes as soon as they maneuver back to LA . But , hey , that ’s middling punk — and The Linda Lindas seemed destined to be the next multiplication ’s punk icons , already feeling amply formed with smart , hook - sullen dada punk song and a programme to convert the worldly concern before most of them can ride .
The Linda Lindas commence as a one - off live project before the four - while decided to write their own music ( or , for some band member , even really see how to represent their instrumental role ) . The group came together when some of their parent , who are involved in the LA arts view , find out that the event Girlschool LA was count for an all - kid band to back Kristin Kontrol of Dum Dum Girls for a performance . A series of other gigs comply , so course they became an official band . Just months later in 2019 , they ended up opening for their idols , Bikini Kill . That fascinate the attention of longtime Bikini Kill sports fan Amy Poehler , who asked the teenager radical to appear in and record euphony for herNetflix filmMoxie . finally , they also caught the attending of the full internet when " Racist , Sexist Boy " blew up .
The song was written after Mila experienced an incident at school when a schoolfellow severalise her that his founder instructed him to deflect Taiwanese people . It assume audiences not only because of how matter - of - fact and relatable its lyrics about face dogmatism were , but because of how defiantly they declare , " We rebuild what you destruct . "
" It seemed like all of these thing were coming to light then , " Lucia says of the time they were inspired to write the song , when hate crimes against AAPI multitude were on the rise and they had become more familiar with the Black Lives Matter movement . " I think a lot of things are n’t talked about , a mass of things are normalized and brushed over , " she adds . " [ Society tends to ] ignore oppressiveness , and that ’s really thwarting . "
The Linda Lindas at Lazy Sundaes|Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist
That frustration , compelling them to talk out , is why they carry on to make music . Eloise says , " The song that we write are a reflection of how we ’re feeling and the earth around us . [ Songwriting is ] a good outlet to press out feelings in , otherwise these thoughts and emotion would all be bottle up inside . " It ’s punk they turn to specifically — not only because the more double-dyed and dissipated , the better — but because , to them , " punk is about amplifying your voice when no one else will . " It ’s something the banding isknown to say , " doing it yourself , doing what you want , and doing what matter to you , " as Eloise explains . Like other punk bands before them — from the Sex Pistols ' political disillusion to riot grrrl ’s feminist substance — they’re expounding on the literary genre ’s political story , just as much as they draw out from it sonically , being influenced heavily by early kindling act like The Go - Gos and contemporary 1 like Paramore .
you may sense how much they ’re student of punk in their politically charged anthem like " Racist , Sexist Boy " or the album cut across " Fine , " but that ill-affected fervor is on their other songs , too . Much ofGrowing Upexplores the anxiousness circumvent adolescence ( " talk to Myself " ) and the weight of being just one soul trying to take a stand ( " Oh ! " ) . But within all of those vocal is a hint of optimism — especially in their title of respect track where they exclaim , " We ’ll sing to people and show / What it intend to be youthful and grow up . "
Bela says , " During the time we wrote the album , there was a lot of negativity in the humans , and it was nice to indite something positivist . I stand for , sometimes life soak up , but there ’s always positives , and it ’s just about attempt to find out those thing and celebrate them , even if they ’re small . "
Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist
At their sell - out Mercury Lounge show , everybody was dancing — from leather jacket - clothe grownup punks to kids in light - up brake shoe , who the striation invite to the front dustup . Their gag about putting off their homework were a hit among the grown - ups , but you could n’t help but mark how much of an impact their song must ’ve had on young fans in the crowd . The band even stopped playing for a moment to expect the crowd to let a young daughter through so she could get a better view , and fille with brightly dyed hair in their tweens sang every Scripture to birdcall from the new record , despite it being out for only a few weeks . They say it ’s one of their pet things to see kids singing along because , among their purpose to inspire people in general , they especially want to inspire Kyd to do " whatever they need to do . "
" A batch of the clip as a kid , you feel really lost or you do n’t see yourself in the medium , " Lucia says . " You ca n’t see yourself doing anything that you might want to do , and it ’s backbreaking . I mean that we still feel that path — image out how to be kids , but also be in a set . " Nevertheless , they hope that kidskin see them on point and decide to be a catalyst for change , too — whether that ’s by picking up an instrument and begin their own banding , or however they see fit .
" I thinkanyonecan change the world if they desire to , " say Eloise .
Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist
It just happens to be through music that they ’re starting conversations and a youth riot of their own . " euphony is really a connective art that can be anything . It ’s more than words — it ’s like a piece of somebody , and a elbow room of relating to people and letting them hump that they ’re not alone in what they ’re feeling , " Lucia says . " A lot of people postulate to know that their story matters and they have the right to finger like they matter . "
On their call " Remember . " Lucia sings , " peradventure tomorrow will be / big , good , bolder / Maybe today was just the / Calm before the storm . " Whether you see it in their resilient show or get a line it on their disc , you get the sense that these four and their music absolutely have the major power to make something that ’s " bigger , better , bolder . "
It feel like " the calm air before the storm " of their career , too . This summer , they ’ll be play appearance with Yeah Yeah Yeahs — hold another dream group to fiddle with off their wish list . They still call their dreams of playing with Debbie Harry and Joan Jett a " reach , " but despite that , they seem very confident in their larger goal that their music can inspire change . Between the homework that they neglect , get boba in every city they go to , and trying different spicy collation , they ’ve get a world to redeem .
