By Emme Tran | Copy Editor

On April 8, half Asian, half Latinx punk rock band The Linda Lindas released their first studio album, “Growing Up,” featuring 10 songs. The band, comprised of sisters guitarist Lucia de la Garza and drummer Mila de la Garza, guitarist Bela Salazar, and bassist Eloise Wong, all aged 11 to 17, use their music to address adolescence, feminism, and cats.
The Linda Linda’s vibrant, empowering music embodies the riot grrrl movement from the 1990s which combined feminism and punk rock. As an avid pop-punk and punk-rock listener who is also a person of color, I am excited for this young, all-female band to hit mainstream music.
The first track, “Oh!,” begins with fast-paced rock brimming with frustration. Salazar delivers with energizing aggression synonymous with the genre, conveying potent anger towards not saying or doing the right thing.
“Growing Up,” not to be confused with the name of the album, starts off deceptively calm but explodes in a cacophony of instrumentals and colorful vocals coming from Lucia. The Linda Lindas wrote the lyrics as a wholesome love song to adolescence and the excitement of growing up with each other.
The title track “Talking To Myself” is reminiscent of bands like All Time Low with its nostalgic harmonies and memorable pop-rock beat. The lyrics are existential crisis-inducing but are paired with bright, electric instrumentation which perfectly fits the music video’s humorous black and white horror concept.
There is an abundance of cat imagery in The Linda Linda’s music videos, but “Nino” is the epitome of the band’s love for the animal with an adorable serenade to Salazar’s cat. “Cuántas Veces,” sung in Spanish by Salazar, is mellow and comforting with a heavy focus on the string instruments and touches upon feeling like an outsider but ultimately finding acceptance.

“Remember” and “Magic” are very similar in terms of lyrics and beat, as the band laments upon reality and dreams with a funky, old-school twang.
“Fine,” “Why,” and “Racist, Sexist Boy” are tracks that encompass the “punk” in punk rock. Wong and Mila act as the main vocalists, with Wong’s exceptionally powerful shout-screaming style. While it is common to hear this type of aggressive shouting in the genre, it can be unbearable if unprepared.
However, I do have an appreciation for the heartbreaking lyrics that touch upon not always having the energy to be alright. The lyrics of “Racist, Sexist Boy” go, “You turn away from / what you don’t wanna see / Racist, sexist boy,” which angrily depicts 11 year-old Mila’s interaction with a boy at the beginning of the pandemic that backed away from her when he learned she was Chinese. The songs are very dour, but the band puts those emotions into a manageable song for younger audiences.
Already, The Linda Lindas have seen success opening for riot grrrl pioneers Bikini Kill and performing in actress and comedian Amy Poehler’s Netflix movie, “Moxie.” I think that “Growing Up” showcases the band’s incredible talent at music and is 100 percent worth the listen.