The punk four-piece’s track has been hailed by Kathleen Hanna and Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello
Living proof that punk isn’t dead are Mila, 10, Eloise, 13, Lucia, 14, and Bela, 16, AKA extremely loud four-piece The Linda Lindas. Embodying the spirit of the riot grrrl movement, they’re already an established name on the LA punk scene, having opened for Bikini Kill and played alongside various other legends. They’re pretty much the coolest teen (and pre-teen) band going.
Playing at Los Angeles Public Library for its Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month on May 4, the half-Asian, half-Latinx band debuted a new original track, which contains the (screamed) lyrics, “We rebuild what you destroy / You are a racist, sexist boy”.
Written about an experience at school with a boy who was taught racist behaviour by a parent, “Racist, Sexist Boy” is a middle finger to prejudice and injustice.
Introducing the song, the drummer explained: “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. After I told him that I was Chinese, he backed away from me. Eloise and I wrote this song based on that experience.”
Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello shared the performance, writing: “Song of the day!”, while Kathleen Hanna also praised the performance along with the fact they were sporting tops from Tees4togo, Hanna’s project that supports education for girls in West Africa.
The group’s accolades are many: they’ve played with Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Best Coast, and LA punk legend Alice Bag, and also make an cameo in recent Netflix original film Moxie.
In 2019, Hanna posted a video of them performing a cover of ”Rebel Girl”, writing: “When the cover surpasses the original.” When Bikini Kill reunited for a series of shows that year, they handpicked The Linda Lindas to open for them at the Hollywood Palladium.
Watch the full performance:
