Growing Up

Album review

In March 2021, The Linda Lindas went viral thanks to their song "Racist, Sexist Boy"—a sludgy, two-ton cathartic response to a classmate who said his dad told him to stay away from Asian people as the pandemic was heating up. When social media saw the band was made of four girls—all Asian, Latinx, or both—now aged 11 to 17, playing in a Los Angeles library, it was one of the most inspirational moments of the year. But the Linda Lindas aren't just novelty. And, it turns out, that all-important Riot Grrrl-meets-L7 song is kind of an anomaly on their debut album, a thrill ride of fizzy, unbridled pop punk and power pop in the vein of the Runaways and the Muffs. The title song is gloriously big and fun, loaded with fat bass, emo-pop guitar lines and a giddy, rushed chorus; they even manage to make throw-pillow platitudes ("We'll dance like nobody's there/ We'll dance without any cares") sound anthemic. "Oh!" is a celebration of chunky, late '70s hard rock, veering from spit verses to an infectious chorus. "Talking To Myself" delivers all the pop-punk hallmarks—punchy drums, fizzy melody, pure adrenaline—plus honest lyrics that apply to all ages: "When you talk to yourself/ Do you think about the things that flood your head full of doubt/ Like when you cannot stop stressing/ About all the wrong directions." "Fine," meanwhile, rumbles with hormonal fury (The Bags come to mind), each word delivered like a crash: "It's! Not! Fine!" "Nino"—about a savage pet cat, a "killer of mice and rats"—channels the antsiness of a mosh pit just before it blows. "Remember" is '50s greaser pop punk, each syllable of the promise "tomorrow will be bigger-brighter-better" like a fist in the air. It has that sweet swoon of The Regrettes, Beach Bunny, or Best Coast. The latter is an apropos reference given the band's history. The four—Eloise Wong, sisters Mila and Lucia de la Garza, and Bela Salazar—started off as a pick-up band of kids playing with Kristin Kontrol of Dum Dum Girls for a music festival, where they guested with Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino as well as Karen O. (Mila and Lucia's dad, mixer and engineer extraordinaire Carlos de la Garza, who has worked with Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, Bad Religion and more, is a producer on Growing Up.) But it's the girls' personal experiences and touches, not their famous connections, that make their music so appealing. Bela, a high school senior, wrote and sings "Cuántas Veces," the twinkling disco-ball sway, in Spanish and has said, "I grew up on rock and Spanish music and bossa nova and all the different types of Latin music, so I really wanted to bring that into the record." "What if magic was real?" asks one song. This youthful magic is as real as it gets. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz