The Linda Lindas - Growing Up Review
Growing Up is a dilute riot grrl record for the TikTok generation.
The Linda Lindas, hailing from Los Angeles, are not your average feminist punk band. That’s because they’re all under 18 - the youngest member, drummer Mila, is just eleven years old. Not exactly what you think of when you picture a support band for trailblazers like Bikini Kill or Alice Bag.
I had heard the lead singles from their debut album Growing Up and instantly added them to my library, so I was totally impressed when I looked further into the band and uncovered the intrigue. The group embodies that kitschy coming of age rock sound because they’re actually coming of age.
Album opener ‘Oh!’ - a firm favourite in my current rotation - is the first of many earworm tracks. With edgy vocals, catchy guitar riffs and a symphonius chanting of ‘ohs’ peppered in for good measure, this is a perfect intro to The Linda Lindas’ sound.
The record’s namesake ‘Growing Up’ tells a rebellious tale of being a kid in the face of adversity. The chorus echoes a nonconformist mantra - The Linda Lindas will “show what it means to be young and growing up”. Sonically, a raucous drum beat and fun vocal delivery is carried by a thrum of grungy guitars and bass.
We’ll hear more of these same guitars and drums throughout the record, to the point where the tracks are relatively indiscernible. ‘Talking To Myself’ follows ‘Growing Up’ with the same punching enthusiasm. Then, vocalist Eloise Wong brings forward angry self expression on ‘Fine’, which mirrors the attitudes of a dissident youth who are sick of being told that it’s fine, even when “you hear us shouting but you don’t hear a word”.
‘Nino’ is arguably the weakest song. It’s definitely a filler track, and though it feels like a parody of itself, I fear it’s serious. Perhaps it’s a half-hearted yet ill-informed attempt at deadpan punk storytelling. Either way, I’m not too keen and for this reason Growing Up is no longer a no skips album in my eyes.
Next up is ‘Why’, which follows a similar sonic pattern to, well, every other track. ‘Cuántas Veces’ is a welcome break from this pattern, offering something more lowkey and breezy. Written and performed by band member Bela Selazar, the Spanish lyrics and beachy instrumentation offer a duality we’ve not yet seen.
Nearing the end of the album, ‘Remember’ and ‘Magic’ bring back those catchy (yet hardly complex) hooks. The closer track ‘Racist, Sexist Boy’ was written in response to a classmate of Mila’s who said that his dad told him to stay away from Chinese people. Mila (aged eleven, might I add) then conceptualised this song with Eloise. Pretty awesome, right? The Linda Lindas truly represent a cohort of socially woke kids, and I’m certain their music will resonate with this demographic.
In many ways, Growing Up is a dilute riot grrl record for the TikTok generation. It ticks all of the right boxes, even when it misses the mark. The Linda Lindas obviously have talent which is especially impressive considering their age, and I can see them going far. Still, I’d like to see their sound diversify and become less try hard.