Music / The Linda Lindas

Left to Right: Lucia de la Garza, Mila de la Garza, Eloise Wong, Bela Salazar

Influences:

• Shonen Knife, Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney

The Linda Lindas are a punk rock band based out of Los Angeles. Their debut performance was on 2018 at the Girlschool Festival (a benefit for girl-positive charities) as a pickup cover band. Subsequently they appeared in community benefits. In 2019, they opened for Bikini Kill. But it was a May 2021 performance at an L.A. library that won them fame and recognition when a clip of their song "Racist Sexist Boy" went viral. Shortly after, they signed with Epitaph.

It is worth noting that they ranged in age from 10 (Mila, the youngest) to 16 (Bela, the oldest) at the time.

Lineup

• Lucia de la Garza (guitarist, vocalist)
• Eloise Wong (bassist, vocalist)
• Mila de la Garza (drummer, vocalist)
• Bela Salazar (guitarist, vocalist)

Discography

• EP: The Linda Lindas (2020)
  • "Monica"
  • "No Clue"
  • "Missing You"
  • "Never Say Never"
• Album: Growing Up (released April 8, 2022)
  • "Oh!"
  • "Growing Up"
  • "Talking To Myself"
  • "Fine"
  • "Nino"
  • "Why"
  • "Cuántas veces"
  • "Remember"
  • "Magic"
  • "Racist, Sexist Boy"
• Others:
  • "VOTE!"
  • "Claudia Kishi" (appeared in the Netflix documentary on the The Baby-Sitters Club
  • "Groovy Xmas"
  • "Too Many Things"
  • "Little Bit o' Soul"

TROPES!

• Acting for Two: invoked The video for "Too Many Things" takes place in a diner and featured the four members playing all parts: themselves; the staff (cook, dishwasher, server and cashier); a writer on a typewriter, a factory worker resembling Rosie the Riveter; a mild-looking biker gang; and two old men playing chess.
• Animated Music Video: The video for "Nino", a song about guitarist Bela Salazar's cat, consists of the lyrics ("Killer of mice and rats") in animated form, showing the cat chasing after mice, letting tiny versions of the band members ride on his back.
• As Himself: The Linda Lindas perform at the Moxie party in the 2021 film of the same name.
• Band of Relatives: Except for Bela Salazar, they are all related. Mila and Lucia de la Garza are sisters, and Eloise Wong is their cousin.
• Big Stupid Doo Doo Head: Justified, in "Racist, Sexist Boy", since the youngest band member was in fourth grade at the time.
  Poser
  Blockhead
  Riffraff
  Jerkface
• Bilingual Bonus: The Spanish-language song "Cuántas veces" (how many times?):
  ¿Cuántas veces tengo que decir/Ya estoy harta de sentirme así.
  (How many times do I have to say/I am tired of feeling this way.)
• The Cameo: Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill interviews little girls about what they like about punk in a spoken word introduction to "Why".
• Careful with That Axe: Bassist Elyse Wong and drummer Mila de la Garza deliver a few screams in "Racist, Sexist Boy". "Fine" also includes screaming.
• Christmas Songs: A straight example with "Groovy Xmas" which features shout-outs to Charlie Brown, the Grinch, Mariah Carey... and cats Nino and Monica.
• Cover Version:
  • They recorded Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl" and The Muffs's "Big Mouth" for the Moxie soundtrack.
  • A cover version of The Music Explosion's "Little Bit o' Soul" plays over the final credits of Totally Killer.
• Creepy Dolls: The video for the song "Talking to Myself" was inspired by the "Living Doll" episode of The Twilight Zone (1959) (a.k.a. the one with "Talky Tina"). One-sentence description: a quartet of dolls become sentient, and angry about being excluded from band practice take their anger out on the girls.
• Cute Kitten:
  • Four cats appear in the video for "Growing Up", wearing berets matching the girls'. Later, the cats are dressed up to look like the girls, complete with wigs (some of them) and miniature instruments.
  • Nino and Monica appear in the video and lyrics of "Groovy Xmas"
• Diss Track: "Racist Sexist Boy" was written after a March 2020 incident: just before California shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mila de la Garza (then a fourth-grade student) was told by a boy at her school that his dad had told him to stay away from Chinese people.
• Friendship Song: "Growing Up":
  We can take turns taking the reins
  Lean on each other when we need some extra strength
• Instant Web Hit: The band performed at an event for AAPI Heritage Month at an L.A. library branch. A clip of their song "Racist Sexist Boy" was posted on Twitter and went viral.
• Iris Out: How the video for "Talking to Myself" ends after the dolls are left out of practice. They attack the girls and leave them lying in a heap all bloody and bruised. The scene closes in on one of the dolls. Just before the shot closes fully, the dolls's eye pops open. Creepy Doll indeed.
• Kindhearted Cat Lovers:
  • They have two songs ("Monica" and "Nino") about their cats. Their Christmas Song "Groovy Xmas" also name drops the kitties.
  • The video for "Growing Up" features four cats, one corresponding to each band member, complete with adorable costumes and miniature instruments.
  • The cover art for the "Growing Up" album portrays the band members as anthropomorphic cats.
• Lyrics/Video Mismatch: The video for "Talking to Myself" is a homage to the episode "Talky Tina" of "The Twilight Zone (1959)". It features angry dolls coming to life and attacking the girls for excluding them from practice. This is Played for Laughs. The lyrics are about feeling isolated and obsessive thoughts.
• Ode to Youth: "Growing Up".
  We'll talk 'bout things that ain't fair
  We'll sing 'bout things we don't know
  We'll sing to people and show
  What it means to be young and growing up
• Overly Narrow Superlative: The song "Monica", about guitarist Bela's Siamese cat, Monica: "You are my favorite Siamese cat". She does not have any other Siamese cats.
• Rhyming with Itself: Their song about Claudia Kishi:
  I am Claudia Kishi
  You are Claudia Kishi
  She is Claudia Kishi
  We are Claudia Kishi
• Sanity Slippage Song: "Talking To Myself" deals with obsessive thoughts and sounds like a cry for help
  We're all talking to ourselves
  About things we cannot help
• Silly Song: The songs about their cats, "Nino" and "Monica" qualify.
• Shout-Out:
  • The song "Claudia Kishi" is a shout-out to the Vice President of the The Baby-Sitters Club
  • The band name itself was derived from the Japanese 2005 Linda Linda Linda, about a group of teenage girls who form a band, who in turn perform a cover of The Blue Hearts' "Linda Linda".
  • The Christmas song "Groovy Xmas":
    We'll all watch Charlie Brown's Christmas (Yeah, Charlie)
    And "You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch"
    Same playlist every year
    Mariah brings the cheer
    And pumpkin spice lattes are here
• Title Track: For album "Growing Up"
• Title-Only Chorus: "Monica", the song about Bela Salazar's favorite Siamese cat.
• Vengeful Abandoned Toys: The video for "Talking To Myself" shows the girls spending the day doing fun things with the dolls. But then they exclude the dolls during rehearsal. The dolls get angry and end up taking over their practice. The video ends with the dolls attacking the girls.