The Linda Lindas by Jessie Cowan
NZT Wednesday 17th July
The Linda Lindas have officially announced their new album, No Obligation arriving on October 11th via label home Epitaph. To mark the occasion, they share the single 'All In My Head' along with a reality-altering, psychedelic music video directed by James Wyatt.
“It has the most indie vibes we’ve leaned into so far because it was written on an acoustic guitar”, says Lucia de la Garza, who wrote and sings on the song. “Recording it was really fun, full of lots of dancing in the studio. I wrote ‘All In My Head,’ from the perspective of a
book character, which kinda brought us out of our comfort zone.” She read the book, My Year of Rest And Relaxation, on tour last summer and the character served as the inspiration for the song. She continues, “It felt like a break from reality, which we don’t usually find ourselves writing about.”
No Obligation, the second full-length release from The Linda Lindas further advances their unironic, joyful, and exciting trajectory
of mashing up L.A. punk with post punk, garage rock, power pop, new wave and rock en español. Written and recorded by
the band during spring breaks, winter breaks, and long weekends (Lucia and bassist Eloise Wong are still in highschool, drummer Mila de la Garza just finished middle school, and Bela Salazar is patiently waiting for them to get done with it already), the new album has been in the works for the last two years
whenever they weren’t at school or touring. “I don’t got no obligation,” roars Eloise in the opening, title track of the album - “just brush off all expectation.” From the first moment of their sophomore release it is clear that The Linda Lindas are here to defy expectations and
challenge norms.
Since going viral with their LA Public Library performance of their song 'Racist, Sexist, Boy' the world has watched these four musicians scream about injustice, sing about growing up and exhibit the kind of
altruism that is so meaningful to the punk scene. While their evolution as writers, performers and studio geeks is clear
on No Obligation, their ethos remain steadfast. The band previously teased the new music with two album tracks including the anxiety
filled 'Too Many Things,' and the scorcher 'Resolution/ Revolution.' With all four musicians each contributing to the writing and lead-singing, the songs are as varied and dynamic as the
girls themselves, however the listener always senses the underpinning of both their shared world-view and their bond.
This past weekend The Linda Linda’s opened for The Rolling Stones at So-Fi Stadium in Los Angeles and at the end of the month they’ll be joining another legendary band- Green Day on The Saviors Tour, celebrating the anniversaries of Green Day’s iconic albums Dookie and American Idiot. Rancid and Smashing Pumpkins will also be joining the tour which kicks off July 29.
The band has had a whirlwind past year including appearing on The Talking Heads Stop Making Sense tribute album and performing their cut of 'Found A Job' on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. They’ve also supported Blondie, The Breeders and Paramore on their This is Why tour and played festivals across the US
including Coachella, Lollapalooza, Boston Calling and More.
The Linda Lindas' debut album, Growing Up was released in 2022 to wide critical praise with The New York Times calling it “a combination of wholesome and fierce”
and Pitchfork hailing it as “the most heartwarming record of the year.” Since its release they’ve performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, CBS Mornings, Tiny Desk, James Corden and appeared in the pages of Vogue, W Mag, The New York Times and in fashion campaigns for Opening Ceremony and Rodarte. The Linda Lindas spent most of 2022 on a world tour including playing shows with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Japanese Breakfast at Forest Hills Stadium, and the Hollywood Bowl. Their debut album Growing Up is out now via Epitaph Records.