These All Girl Bands Are Keeping Punk Alive
There’s no doubt that rock ‘n roll is something of a boys club — and even though we’ve seen many female-fronted rock and punk bands throughout the years, it’s pretty much like spotting a damn unicorn when you discover an all-female punk band.
Ironically, women co-pioneered the genre, often appearing as equals next to their male punk band mates. Rock historians have gone so far as to say that it would be possible to write the entire history of punk without mentioning any male bands at all…. #justsayin.
Here are some all-girl bands you need to know, repping and keeping female visibility in punk rock alive and well today.
Snow Angel
Fronting the fabulous funk-pop band known as Snow Angel is Gabby La La on sitar and lead vocals. If you’re a hippie at heart, then Snow Angel is definitely your jam. Described as a “technicolor rainbow cheer party,” the group will deliver chill vibes into your ears, and psychedelic neon colors to your eyes. The band also includes Melissa Leigh Hubbel on bass, Emily Studden on Drums, Sarah Melekova on omnichord, Cadence Myles on guitar, and Alison Niedbalski on keys.
The Regrettes
This band technically has a boy on the drums, Maxx, but we’ll give him a pass for helping to make such killer tracks, and because he has two x’s in his name. Helming from Los Angeles, The Regrettes are fronted by 16-year-old Lydia Night, who leads this super cool squad of doo-woppy influenced rockers. Their newest single, “Seashore,” has Lydia singing, “I’m not like anybody else, so you can just go fuck yourself,” over those sweet little 50’s sounding background chords. But wait ’til you get to the chorus, where the guitar start wailing and you get those shred-worthy moments you’ve been waiting for. This one is undoubtedly a bop, kids.
Bleached
American punk band Bleached consists of sisters Jennifer Clavin and Jessica Clavin, and Micayla Grace formerly of Leopold & His Fiction. Even though technically they also have boy on drums, Nick Pillot — we’ll let that one slide, since he has glorious long hair and helps to keep our girls in time with those beats. Their most played song is 2011’s “Think of You,” but their newest — and catchiest — is “Wednesday Night Melody” from their second studio album, “Welcome the Worms,” which maybe should be renamed “Welcome the EARworms,” since you’ll likely love the entire thing.
Warpaint
Warpaint has been around since 2004, and even though in past incarnations has included some guy-rockers, the current line-up is all female! Hell yas! The group includes Emily Kokal (vocals, guitar), Theresa Wayman (guitar, vocals) and Jenny Lee Lindberg (bass, backing vocals), and Stella Mozgawa (drums). Their most played tune is “Love is to Die” from their self-titled album in 2013, but their newest and coolest is literally called “New Song,” which includes a pretty sick remix which was just released last week.
L7
L7 was originally formed in the 80’s, and reunited in 2014 after a thirteen-year-long hiatus. They are perhaps one of the best known all-female rock bands, and are considered the pioneers of the grunge rock movement. They released a pretty kick ass documentary this year entitled, “L7: Pretend We’re Dead,” which reviews the craziness of their sixteen year career and features some pretty dope interviews with members of Nirvana, Shirley Manson from Garbage, and Joan Jett.
