The Linda Lindas are pretty much the coolest kids around. Like most people, I first became acquainted with them from their 2021 LA public library performance. While “Racist, Sexist Boy” garnered them the most attention, their entire performance (which included other original tracks like “Claudia Kishi” and “Monica”) was freakin’ rad. I’d be remiss to not mention the inspiration for their name – “Linda Linda” is a track put out by Japanese punk band The Blue Hearts back in the ’80s. That song went on to later inspire a 2005 film named Linda Linda Linda about a group of high school girls and their struggles forming a band. If you’ve never watched the film, you absolutely must watch the film’s climax here (spoilers, obviously).
The Asian and Latinx quartet has since signed with Epitaph Records and released their amazing debut LP Growing Up. If you dare call them industry plants, I will fight you. The Linda Lindas are getting a whole new generation of kids (and adults) to listen to punk and start bands and you can’t deny that’s pretty badass.
Opening for The Linda Lindas was DC band Bacchae. I’d never heard of them before, but they played a fantastic set. They put out their latest LP Pleasure Vision in 2020 and this tour was their first chance to perform those songs live. During their set, they gave so many shout-outs including to Brooke from Froggy who was in attendance, as well as baby Enzo who just turned 1.
The Linda Lindas’ show at The Foundry in Philly was originally scheduled to take place on Thursday, 7/21, but COVID in their touring party resulted in the show getting postponed until the following Tuesday. For their sold out performance, they kicked off their set with a cover of the aforementioned “Linda Linda” and followed that up with the song about the coolest member of The Baby-Sitters Club “Claudi Kishi”. They perform with such charisma, chemistry, and stage presence, it’s hard to believe that they’re still a relatively new band. While their youthful energy and Gen Z ideals make up a big part of what makes them so appealing, their tunes (like “Oh!”, “Growing Up”, and “Talking To Myself”) are some of the catchiest around. While the audience was expectedly filled with many child-parent combos (with numerous kids on shoulders), it was overall an eclectic mix of concert-goers spanning generations and ethnicities with no one having to feel out of place. That’s pretty punk, if you ask me.
Towards the end of their set, they performed their recently released cover of The Go-Go’s “Tonite” and closed out the night by bringing Bacchae back on stage for their performance of Riot Grrrl anthem “Rebel Girl”.
The Linda Lindas are currently hitting the festival circuit, but they’ll be back in the area again this fall when they play an absolutely legendary show with Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Japanese Breakfast at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens on October 1st (tickets available here). Check out all of their upcoming tour dates here.
Watch their music video for “Growing Up” below and keep scrolling to see more photos from the show.
