Review Summary: The Fun and the Furious.
Meritocracy and free speech have long been two of the pillars of modern Western society. The sense that anyone can both say and aspire to anything is what keeps most human beings going in mentally or socially tougher times, and these values therefore tend to be actively enforced in most societal situations, and their opposites – nepotism and repression – appropriately denounced. This paradigm is, however, a double-edged sword, which, if left unchecked, can ultimately result in grown men lobbing insults at children as young as eleven, simply because of their parents' professional occupation.
That is the situation teenage pop-punk upstarts The Linda Lindas find themselves in with the release of their debut album. Comprised almost entirely of the relatives of prominent producer Carlos de la Garza – who, out of the four members, only frontwoman Bela Salazar is not in some way related to – the band instantly saw themselves tagged with the much maligned (and much misused) term
'industry plants', tarnishing what could (and should) have been a life-affirming coming-of-age experience with an unnecessary coating of keyboard-warrior criticism. For while it is true that, without their connections, the band might never even have come together - they are not a manufactured band in the traditional sense of the word, but their formation does have its roots in showbiz-related happenstance - let alone sign a deal with legendary punk label Epitaph or earned the praise of artists they undoubtedly look up to, one has to be of a particularly vitriolic disposition to begrudge a group of teenage girls for making use of their opportunity to have fun, rock out, spread positive energy, and write songs about their cat – especially when they do it all as well as The Linda Lindas.
In fact, a single, noncommittal spin of the band's debut will put to rest the notion that these girls are the second coming of Rebecca Black; in truth, they are not even the second coming of the Tramp Stamps. Rather, The Linda Lindas come across as genuine teenagers, with a genuine love of music, who – if not given the opportunity their family ties provided them with – might have been performing these exact same songs in a sweaty garage somewhere, with their cats walking over the leads every few seconds and unplugging their instruments. It should be noted that – again, unlike most actual
'industry plants' - the band does write all their own material, and it shows: there is a genuine sense of fun and passion to even the most nondescript among these ten songs (
Why, Magic) which is seldom to be found in most of the performer-for-hire acts the much-reviled term is correctly associated to.
Similarly, where they could have easily taken the same Paramore-lite route most of their older peers usually opt for, the girls instead take most of their cues from acts they are far too young to have had real-time contact with. Title track
Growing Up does provide the expected teen-Paramore pastiche, but not before opener
Oh! has established the girls' main influence – namely, original teenage punk queens The Runaways, whose pioneering work also heavily inform tracks such as
Fine (which sees Salazar do her best sneery, snarly Joan Jett impression) and the aforementioned
Why. Elsewhere, the Ramonian riffs, bouncy energy and staccato vocal work on
Nino (a paean to the eponymous
'savage cat, killer of mice and rats') and the peppy
Remember smack of Shonen Knife, while Salazar's register evokes both the likes of Letters to Cleo and (in the more aggressive vocal moments) the cream of the riot-grrrl crop; Spanish-sung
Cuantas Veces? sprinkles a touch of post-punk and new-wave on its 90s alt-pop core, through the use of a very late-70s organ, and closer
Racist, Sexist Boy's unexpectedly heavy grunge riff and unhinged, schizophrenic vocal performance bring to mind (of all things) a less manic version of Queen Adreena, proving The Linda Lindas' pool of references is not only creditable, but wide enough for the group to repeatedly dip into on future releases.
In short, while by no means perfect (as stated, there is the odd nondescript moment, and the lyrics are definitely the work of teenage poets)
Growing Up appears to have been unfairly selected as an easy target for critics who, if presented with similar circumstances at the same age, would not have had a second thought about doing the exact same thing; for less biased, more impartial listeners, the album's short runtime and seamless blend of sunny, bouncy energy and righteous teenage angst make The Linda Linda's debut the perfect soundtrack for the oncoming Summer months, and creates the desire to hear more from these young women in the near future. As for the band themselves, while they may still have a few kinks to iron out, the passion and songwriting standard presented on this debut do start them on the right track to what one hopes will be a fruitful and enjoyable career.
Recommended Tracks
Oh!
Growing Up
Fine
Remember
