Support Your Local Girl Band

Despite having a solid female fanbase, the pop-punk and indie rock scene has always been rife with controversy as the scene becomes a who’s who of predators. When listening to pop punk, I’ve often wound up frantically Google searching whether or not the band has been accused of predatory behaviour, and unfortunately, more often than not, they have been.

Whilst there has been a lot of progress with women in the indie rock scene, with these year’s rock Grammy nominations being dominated entirely by women, it is still so crucial to support women in the music industry. The pop punk and indie rock genre still remains predominantly male and overshadowed by many sleazy artists that take advantage of their predominantly female and younger fans. So without any further adues, scroll down and take a look at these incredible bands you should add to your playlist!

Meet Me @ The Altar

Pop punk songs often wind up being really depressing filled with yearning and wishing to leave your dreaded hometown. That is not at all Meet Me @ The Altar’s case. The band is truly a breath of fresh air. Fronted by three women of colour, Edith Johnson, Tea Campbell and Ada Juarez, the band were recently signed to Fueled by Ramen (of Paramore and All Time Low fame). This year, they’ve released two incredibly anthemic and upbeat songs, “Garden” and “May The Odds Be In Your Favour”, that are destined to put a smile on your face so go check them out!

The Regrettes

The Regrettes have been around since 2015 touring with Kate Nash, Sleigh Bells and Twenty One Pilots among others, but have more recently released “I Love Us” and the mellow quarantine tune “What Am I Gonna Do Today?”. Their infectious music, a mix of happy-go-lucky falling in love with a crush before even speaking to them and feminist anthems will have you wishing you could be screaming out the lyrics and dancing around at one of their live shows. The second they’re back, that’s exactly where I’ll be.

Stand Atlantic

Stand Atlantic are another band that have undergone a plethora of changes, whether it be band names or record labels. I first discovered them when they were opening for State Champs and playing “Lavender Bones”, a classic pop-punk bop sporting lyrics like “I know I’m out of my depth but I just float in it,” which is honestly a life mantra. Their newest album, “Pink Elephant”, released this year also follows the same upbeat pop-punk that will help you get through the dreary upcoming winter.

The Aces

Do you ever listen to a song and feel like they’ve just robbed extracts from your diary? That’s exactly how I felt listening to “My Phone Is Trying to Kill Me”. The Aces are a cool-girl indie pop band from California whose songs are the perfect soundtrack to any twenty-something’s existential adventures and empty promises that they will not be going back to the person who treated them like shit. Their music is inspired by a whole array of different artists ranging from Paramore to Michael Jackson via Weezer. Their newest album, released this summer, is filled with upbeat songs that are also unapologetically queer without ever appearing contrived.

Hinds

Hinds are an indie rock band from Madrid, Spain, who, after the breakdown of Burger Records this year, have signed to Mom + Pop Music, a label that includes Countrey Barnett and Sunflower Bean, among others. Every single member of Hinds exudes cool girl energy and so do their songs. Their newest album “The Prettiest Curse” is the first of their releases to have Spanish lyrics and includes songs about facing sexism in the music industry, something the band is passionate about raising awareness for. Over the dreaded quarantine, the band released tutorial videos allowing women to learn how to play instruments and get involved in music, as they rightly should!

Pinkshift

Pinkshift showed up on my Spotify Discover page with their song “i’m gonna tell my therapist on you”, a title that obviously caught my attention. Their music sounds like if the iconic band from Freaky Friday ever actually made music (their name is also the Pink Slips which sounds oddly similar to Pinkshift if you ask me) AND the band fronted by Ashrita Kumar, a Desi girl from Baltimore. They’ve just released Rainwalk, a compilation of two songs “Rainwalk” and “Toro”, but are set to release an EP with even more songs soon, so get on the hype while you can!