Review: The Linda Lindas - ‘Gotta Get Out’
Gotta Get Out, the third studio album from LA punk band The Linda Lindas, is a natural evolution to a more mature sound for the band. However, listening to the album makes it clear that they are still as angry and frustrated with the state of the world as ever.
This is their first album to be released under the Warner Music Group imprint Reprise. (The band was previously under Bad Religion’s Grett Gurewitz label Epitaph.) If there were any doubts about moving to a larger label, rest assured the gang hasn’t lost their bite, or any of the earnestness and DIY style that their fans adore. For example, bassist Eloise Wong handmade the album’s artwork with craft paper and clippings before presenting it to Warner.
Another first for the band was how they decided to put this record together. For their previous records, each member came to the studio with individual fully-written songs. This time around, they wrote every track collectively in the same room, working on new ideas together. The result is their most dynamic and varied sound yet.
The Linda Lindas as a group found success very early on in their careers. The story goes that Kathleen Hanna (lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill) asked them to open for Bikini Kill at the Hollywood Palladium in 2019 (when the Linda Lindas were all between the ages of 9-15) after she heard them perform “Rebel Girl.” Instead of using this early success to take the easy road to a more predictable sound, they took the opportunity to commit to experimentation in their music. This eagerness is very apparent in Gotta Get Out.
The lead single “Gotta Get Out” sees the band experimenting with big synths, something they’ve never dipped their toes into before now. The song having the same name as the album title emphasises the theme of this project: the restlessness that comes with growing up and not wanting to fit into a mold or follow an expected path.
This flows through into the grungy “Burning Out” and post-punk “Nothing Left,” where the band rails against feelings of hopelessness as billionaires burn down the world.
There's fire in the front yard now
The people on the TV shout
Can you hear it, can you hear it?
Don't you hear the sirens scream?
“Helado de Limón,” sung entirely in Spanish, is a nice return to form for The Linda Lindas, as they've had Spanish songs on all their records so far. It is also a much-needed acknowledgement in a time of such high anti-immigrant sentiment in America.
Songs like “Blood on our Hands” are reminiscent of their earlier work that first projected them to the limelight, such as their viral performance of "Racist, Sexist Boy" at the LA Public Library back in 2021.
On “Closer,” the band links up with alt girl queen Hayley Williams, who helped write the bridge and lent her vocals to the chorus. The song creates an excellent exchange, where the parts written by Williams are sung by The Linda Lindas and vice versa.
This is a full-circle moment for the band, as the connection between them and Williams goes back over a decade. Carlos de la Garza, the father of members Lucia and Mila, has sound-engineered and mixed for Paramore since 2013. He’s also produced all three of The Linda Lindas’ albums. The influence of Hayley Williams and Paramore has always been apparent in The Linda Lindas’ discography, but it is especially apparent in the songs “High Horse” and “I Could Be Wrong.”
Sometimes this album feels like whiplash. You’ll have bassist Eloise Wong use their heavier vocals and dive into hardcore on “Break,” and then they move into “Everybody Told Me” which sees The Linda Lindas testing a softer sound that feels surreal. This only lasts until “Okay” which has a sort of Green Day charm, who The Linda Lindas have recently toured with.
The closing track, “See You Next Time,” ends on a sound I hope to hear more of from the band - a dreamy acoustic ballad.
Politically charged fem alt rock and Riot Grrrl music has seen a resurgence over the last few years. We’ve even seen mainstream pop artist Olivia Rodrigo bring Riot Grrrl and alt rock heavyweights Bikini Kill and Shirley Manson to her Daisy Chain Fields Festival, no doubt introducing a brand new and younger audience to the genres.
There’s a renewed force and agency with this iteration. Maybe this can be attributed to increased attacks on women's rights, humanitarian crises live streamed 24/7, a rise in fascism, and the natural evolution of late stage capitalism. All this to say, the spirit of punk is alive and growing strong, especially among young women, and The Linda Lindas have not mellowed in their intensity.