The Linda Lindas – an LA-based quartet comprised of Bela Salazar on electric guitar, Eloise Wong on bass guitar and vocals, Lucia de la Garza on guitar and Mila de la Garza on drums (all aged 11 to 17) – first came to the world's attention last May, when a ferocious performance of their song, Racist Sexist Boy at a Los Angeles public library went viral.
Recently, the quartet returned to the LA library setting – the Los Angeles Central Library, for those taking notes – to film a typically tight and energetic, five-song NPR Tiny Desk (home) set. You can check it out below.
In it, the band run through five tracks – Growing Up, Talking to Myself, Why, Cuántas Veces and, of course, Racist, Sexist Boy – all of which feature on their recently released full-length debut, Growing Up.
These run the gamut from the buzzy, airtight pop-punk of Growing Up to the beautiful, mid-tempo Cuántas Veces. Lucia jokingly encourages her bandmates to "blow the roof off" prior to Racist, Sexist Boy, but sarcasm aside, that's exactly what they proceed to do.
The Linda Lindas were prominent members of the recent Fender Next Class of 2022, and indeed Wong, Salazar and Lucia de la Garza are all armed with a revolving door of Fenders throughout (special props in particular must be given to the amazing-looking custom Acoustasonics Salazar and Lucia use on Cuántas Veces).
It's not just Fender that the group have already impressed in their young career, either.
Their viral Racist, Sexist Boy performance won praise from the likes of Tom Morello, Thurston Moore, Hayley Williams and Questlove, and got them a deal with Epitaph, which went on to release Growing Up.
The Linda Lindas also won the admiration of Kathleen Hanna, who told Guitar World in an interview last year – after they wore T-shirts made by Hanna's Tees4Togo business during the aforementioned viral performance – that she was "thrilled to be in any way associated with" the band.
To pick up a copy of Growing Up, stop by the Linda Lindas' website.
