Tonight’s selections from The Linda Lindas debut album, Growing Up. Shades of Go-Go’s, Blondie, Bikini Kill, X-Ray Spex, ‘90s indie pop and more. Intentionally or not, these teens from L.A. have synthesized the last 40 years of women rockers. The kids are alright! (This story was first published in April 2022, now updated)
The Linda Lindas were destined for greatness, one way or another. The Los Angeles quartet—whose members range between 11 and 17 years of age and are Asian American, Latin American, or both—began as part of a kid cover band organized by Dum Dum Girls’ Kristin Kontrol. The musicians, a mixture of sisters, cousins, and chosen family, then formed their own band. Within a year, they were opening up for Bikini Kill, who they later covered in Amy Poehler’s riot grrrl film Moxie. Shortly after the release of “Racist, Sexist Boy,” the Linda Lindas signed with the long-running punk powerhouse Epitaph. Their debut album, Growing Up, is potentially the most heartwarming record of the year. — Pitchfork
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The new single, “Growing Up”, written by Lucia [De La Garza], celebrates the intense friendships (“People that make you want to stay young forever,” she says) and simple pleasures of youth, but also nods to the very normal desire to speed through the scary and awkward parts of adolescence. It’s catchy and danceable, and you can imagine teenagers screaming it from car windows on the last day of classes.
The “Growing Up” video reflects the pulsing energy of the song. The girls participate in a frenetic game of dress up in outfits by Rodarte and Batsheva. Meanwhile, their cat co-stars wear matching versions of the band members’ clothes, complete with little wigs and colorful berets.
“Whenever the cats were being filmed, you couldn’t go in the house, and if we did go in the house you had to, like, tiptoe around,” says Lucia, as all four girls exaggeratedly mime out those cautious movements.
“You know, cats, they like to do their own thing,” adds Eloise [Wong].
Directing cats is definitely more challenging than directing an adolescent punk band, says Humberto Leon, who shot the entire video on an iPhone 13Pro, in part because it helped him to make the video look as if it was shot from the cats’ point of view. He says he wanted the clip to be full of elements where he “felt like it was bringing the girls’ joy and happiness out.” — Rolling Stone
Growing Up
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Talking to Myself is my favorite vid here. The killer dolls are great. This one reminds me of 90s indie pop. Probably my favorite from the album.
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Talking to Myself
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Tonight (The Go-Go’s cover)
It was in May of last year that the group made waves on a global scale. A video filmed at the Los Angeles Public Library showed a group of young musicians playing raucous punk rock, introduced by their then-ten-year-old drummer, complete with Bikini Kill t-shirt.
“A little while, before we went into lock down, a boy in my class came up to me and said that his dad told him to stay away from Chinese people,” drummer Mila de la Garza said at the start of the song. “After I told him I was Chinese, he backed away from me. Eloise and I wrote this song based on that experience.”
The song – fittingly titled “Racist, Sexist Boy” – became a viral hit, gaining millions of views. But by this point, The Linda Lindas were already on their way up. — Rolling Stone Australia
Racist, Sexist Boy
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WHO’S TALKING TO WHO?
Jimmy Fallon: Chris Pratt, Erin Andrews, Charissa Thompson, Red Clay Strays
Stephen Colbert: Chris Hemsworth, James Dyson
After Midnight: Marcella Arguello, Thomas Lennon
Seth Meyers: Joe Manganiello, Jonathan Lemire, Zarna Garg, Queen Cora Coleman (R 4/30/24)
Watch What Happens Live: Paul Scheer, Kyle Cooke
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