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What’s more punk than a group of teens performing a screeching anthem attacking racism and sexism in a public library? Nothing, and the music world has taken notice.
A teenage punk rock group called The Linda Lindas catapulted to internet fame on Thursday after a performance they gave at a Los Angeles public library went viral on Twitter. The band, comprised of three Asian/Latinx sisters — Bela, Lucia, Eloise and Mila — ranging from age 16 to 10, performed at the library on May 4 to kick off AAPI Heritage Month. But the performance didn’t make its way to social media until May 20, when the official account for the LA Public Library posted a clip of them performing their original song “Racist, Sexist Boy.”
Don’t mess with The Linda Lindas.
Watch the full concert: https://t.co/Usv7HJ1lLR pic.twitter.com/pKZ5TKDdiA
— L.A. Public Library (@LAPublicLibrary) May 20, 2021
“A little while before we went into lockdown, a boy came up to me in my class and said that his dad told him to stay away from Chinese people,” Mila said to introduce the song. “After I told him that I was Chinese, he backed away from me. Eloise and I wrote this song based on that experience.”
On Saturday, Variety reported that The Linda Lindas signed a record deal with Epitaph Records. A rep for the label confirmed the signing to Variety. Spin was first to speculate on the possibility of a deal.
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As NPR points out, the band’s name is inspired by a 2005 Japanese movie, “Linda Linda Linda”, about a group of young girls starting a band to perform in their high school cultural festival. The song they choose to sing for the event is a cover of the Blue Hearts song “Linda Linda.”
Though recently ascendant, The Linda Lindas have been gaining industry support for some time. They appeared in Amy Poehler’s movie “MOXIE” and performed an original song in the Netflix short documentary “The Claudia Kishi Club.” The group also has a legion of celebrity fans including Paramore’s Hayley Williams.
PSA: hehe bands exist and the Linda Linda’s have been one of my fav new punk bands since about the time they came out of the womb….
watch them cover Bikini Kill AND The Muffs here –> https://t.co/SLiSL5Ogkc
— hayley from Paramore ? (@yelyahwilliams) March 5, 2021
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The Linda Lindas have quite a music pedigree as well, being the children of Grammy-winning music producer and engineer Carlos de la Garza. De la Garza has worked with big name acts such as Paramore, Cherry Glazerr, Best Coast and Bad Religion. Incidentally, Bad Religion’s guitarist, Brett Gurewitz, founded Epitaph Records.
You can watch The Linda Lindas full set at the LA Public Library below.