The Linda Lindas - No Obligation (2024) [Hi-Res]

In the two years since their debut, The Linda Lindas—whose members, as of 2024, are ages 14 to 20—have opened for the Rolling Stones and Green Day, collaborated with members of Bikini Kill, and played both Coachella the the Scripps National Spelling Bee (the first band to ever do so). The word phenomenon does not seem like an overstatement. They've also grown as songwriters and musicians, with the three singers clearly finding their own paths. You hear it right away with bassist Eloise Wong absolutely howling on thrash monster "No Obligation": "You'd like me better if I grew out my hair/ You'd like me better if I wasn't a mess/ You'd like me better if I put on a dress." Wong also roars on "Excuse Me," a Bags-style furor with a funky breakdown, in a similar lyrical vein: "Profile, profile everything they see/ You're only what they decide you to be ... save all your gender essentialism crap." We may be decades from riot grrrl, but some of society's old constrictions and judgements still exist. And so does teenage anxiety, but at least Gen Z is better at talking about it. "Yo me estreso por nada [I get stressed out over nothing]/ Tengo demasiada ansiedad [I have too much anxiety]/ Y pienso que la gente está enojada conmigo [And I think people are mad at me] Cuando no están [When they're not]," guitarist Bela Salazar sings on "Yo Me Estreso," a heavy stomp with percussive clang and flourishes of Latin duranguense (trumpet, tuba) and Norteño—courtesy of accordion by "Weird Al" Yankovic. Salazar, the oldest, also gets experimental on "Resolution/Revolution," influenced by Pantera and Judas Priest and featuring a high-camp horror movie chorus. It could all be a mad jumble, but producer Carlos de la Garza—whose daughters Mila (drums) and Lucia (guitar) make up the other half of The Linda Lindas and who has worked with bands like Jimmy Eat World and Paramore—keeps it cohesive and shiny as a new penny. But shiny doesn't mean surface; there is plenty of grit in the candy-shell polish of "Lose Yourself." Guitarist Lucia de la Garza is leaning, at least currently, toward the catchy pop-punk bops of Dookie-era Green Day with songs like "All in My Head" which was written from the POV of a character from the Ottessa Moshfegh novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation. "Nothing Would Change" flirts with New Wave guitar, gale-force "Too Many Things" layers on shouted gang harmonies, and "Stop" weaves in a little glam-pop piano. No Obligation is an engaging snapshot of The Linda Lindas right now, and also an intriguing hint of what's to come. © Shelly Ridenour

Tracklist:
1 No Obligation
2 All In My Head
3 Lose Yourself
4 Too Many Things
5 Once Upon A Time
6 Yo Me Estreso
7 Cartographers
8 Don't Think
9 Resolution/Revolution
10 Nothing Would Change
11 Excuse Me
12 Stop