New faces of the grrrl-punk scene tell us why hating men is fucking ridiculous
Taken from the February issue of Dazed & Confused:
Slits legend Viv Albertine: “At last, real girls, young and believable, singing in their own voices. The music is raw, direct and unpretentious – these girls are timeless. They haven’t been squashed and moulded. They’re still fighting, still full of energy and self-belief. Go and see them – you’ll be inspired to get up there and do it too.”
“We weren’t drunk or anything!” hoots 18-year-old bassist Amelia Cutler of grrrl-punk Londoners Skinny Girl Diet about opening for Primal Scream at September’s iTunes festival. “It was literally so mental,” declares 16-year-old drummer Ursula Holliday, whose boggling eyes suggest that it’s still barely sunk in. “Usually I’m playing with broken drumsticks – it was literally so professional.” She grandly pauses to slurp the J20 she’s drinking at a pub on Holloway Road. “Mental!”
Since being chosen to open for punk icon Viv Albertine of The Slits four years ago, the fiery trio have become fixtures at local venues with melodic tracks treacle-thick with bass and that name, an arch dig at Slimfast culture. “You could say the London scene is a sausagefest,” muses guitarist/singer Delilah Holliday, Ursula’s older sister, dryly. “You get boys that seem to think that girls can’t play music.” Their Soundcloud demos showcase an L7-style sneer and an ear for melody reminiscent of the best of the 80s underground (Pixies are their favourite band) and recall the personal scrappiness of the Sonic Youth tracks on which Kim Gordon took lead.
“A lot more women need to realise that feminism is not about hating men, that’s fucking ridiculous,” Ursula declares as the trio gleefully hold forth on Beyoncé (“amazing”), Jennifer Lawrence (“she calls out a lot of bullshit”) and recent Dazed cover star Chloë Grace Moretz, whom Ursula “likes because she’s the same age as me.”
Their forthright attitude isn’t limited to their effervescent personalities – “DMT”, from their recent split 7” with Ethical Debating Society, was inspired by “seeing people mess up their lives with drugs,” Delilah explains with a world-weary air. For now though, they’re looking forward to getting back in the studio in 2014 with a drive to spread their Skinny Girl message far and wide. “A lot of people won’t even pay attention to a female musician because they’re not dressed in some sort of skimpy outfit,” says Ursula. Trust us – you’ll soon be listening.