L.A. all-female punk band The Linda Lindas bring it hard, fast, and full of sass on their debut full-length album Growing Up, released on Epitaph Records.  The group formed in 2018 at Girlschool LA, a music and arts festival that connects and empowers female artists and leaders. After playing a series of DIY shows around the Los Angeles area, they were asked to open for Bikini Kill in 2019 at a reunion show. A song from their debut EP landed on the 2020 Netflix documentary The Claudia Kishi Club and the band even appeared in Amy Poehler’s movie Moxie!

What drew a special amount of public focus on the Linda Lindas music aside from their ethnic diversity, being composed of Asian-American and Latinx members, is their ages which range from 11 to 17.

In 2021, this group of young girls caught the attention of the world with “Racist, Sexist Boy” which tells the story of an experience that drummer Mila de la Garza had early in the pandemic. This is what she shares in the L.A. Public Library video:

“A little while before we went into lockdown, a boy in my class came up to me and said that his dad told him to stay away from Chinese people. After I told him that I was Chinese, he backed away from me. Eloise and I wrote this song based on that experience.”

With a snarl bassist and vocalist Eloise Wong proclaims: “We rebuild what you destroy.” And this is largely the mission and attitude that the Linda Lindas take on Growing Up.

Their sound and style are modeled on 90’s Riot Grrl artists like Bikini Kill and even classic female punk rockers The Runaways. With their infectious riffs, gang vocal choruses, and attitude for days, the group could certainly be accused of simply imitating their heroes. But even if that is partially the case, their intentions are genuine.  The Linda Lindas may not be doing anything new here, but it still sounds fresh.

The ten tracks stay largely within the punk arena, although there is range between harder and softer edges with the bubble-gum pop of “Talking to Myself,” the Spanish language “Cuantas Veces,” and even a pop-punk song “Nino” written about guitarist/vocalist Bela Salazar’s cat Nino.

Growing Up is a fun album that’s full of heart, and at 30 minutes, it passes by very quickly. Stream The Linda Lindas on bandcamp and follow them on Instagram and Twitter.