Tag: girl bands

Dream Wife

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From left to right: Alice, Rakel and Bella

We grew up with very few female role models. We want to be what we needed as teenagers.

Bella for NME in 2019

Dream Wife consists of lead singer Rakel Mjöll, guitarist Alice Go and bassist Bella Podpadec. The band met in Brighton while studying at University. They originally formed to help Rakel complete a performance art assignment she had been set for a module, and also because they wanted to visit Canada together. Killing two birds with one stone, they formed Dream Wife and began touring on the other side of the Atlantic.

Their music is classically puck-rock – with some songs having a dreamy indie vibe due to the melodic backing vocals, for instance ‘Fire’ and ‘Hey Heartbreaker’. Other songs like ‘F.U.U.’ (standing for fuck you up) are more synonymous to punk as a genre. It’s loud, aggressive and very high energy. The bands self-titled debut album, released in 2018, moves from these high energy punk songs, to classic indie bangers, mixing the two together seamlessly.

The thing that is most interesting to know about Dream Wife is their Bad Bitches to the front policy. They make sure their gigs are inclusive spaces, especially for women and non-binary individuals. To make sure this happens the girls make sure that all their ‘bad bitches’ make their way to the front of crowd, often leading to all female and non-binary mosh pits.

As a young woman, one of the most daunting things about going to gigs, especially high energy punk and indie shows, is the mosh pit. Often filled with boys at least a foot taller than me, even the toughest music fan can be a little put off, therefore never getting to fully experience the show. With this Bad Bitches policy, everyone gets to have the same experience, in a fun and inclusive space.

I am not my body – I am somebody

Dream Wife // Somebody (2017)

Not only do they strive to make sure that their gigs are inclusive, the band cover and discuss a number of important issue, including feminism, the #MeToo movement and dismantling the patriarchy. The band are active supporters and contributors to Polyester Magazine which is a self-published, intersectional feminist fashion and culture publication aiming to bridge the gap between URL cyber-feminism and the IRL world. The magazine also has an adjoining podcast which is just as cool!

Polyester Magazine
Polyester Podcast
Dream Wife for NME Magazine (2019)

Dream Wife’s music videos are one of the best things about this band. You never know what to expect. Each one is wildly different from the last, and each one debuts a brand new style. ‘Hey Heartbreaker’ is completely animated and very Scott Pilgrim-esque. ‘Fire’ shows the three exploring the countryside and then discovering magic stones, unleashing their own powers. ‘F.U.U.’ shows the girls performing in a wrestling ring to an all female and non-binary crowd – as well as highlighting female wrestling talent and promoting body positivity. ‘Lolita’ draws heavily from horror movie imagery, with nods to films like the Blair Witch Project and The Craft.

My favourite video is the one for ‘Let’s Make Out’. One of the bands punkier songs, it shows the girls performing at a prom. Everyone at dance begins to make out with one another, regardless of gender. It is not often that queer visibility is such an integral part of a music video and a spectrum of different sexualities are displayed, which is refreshing to see and just another reason to love Dream Wife even more.

Dream Wife’s music video for Let’s Make Out (2017)

Dream Wife are playing at loads of festivals over the summer including: Live at Leeds, Stag and Dagger Glasgow and Dot to Dot festival all in May! Make sure to follow the band on their social media links below to keep up to date with shows and new music announcements! I’ve also added my top five Dream Wife songs to the featured artists playlist so give that a follow too!

Featured Artists Playlist
Dream Wife’s Twitter
Dream Wife’s Website 
Dream Wife’s Instagram

The Tuts

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From left to right: Harriet, Nadia and Beverley

The most diverse UK band since the Sugarbabes.

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The Tuts are a 3 tone DIY girl band consisting of front woman and guitarist Nadia Javed, drummer Beverley Ishmael and bassist Harriet Doverton. Nadia and Beverley started the band when they were teenagers and Harriet, from the band Colour Me Wednesday, joined in 2010. Their music has been described as punk-pop indie.

The band are overtly political with lyrics that focus on politics, class, race and sexism. Their strong political beliefs aren’t only represented through song. On social media, they can be seen discussing a range of issues, and generating a dialogue on topics that are often brushed under the carpet. In December 2018, the band joined forced with UK based #solidaritynotsilence to raise over £3,000 for survivors of abuse. They also sell merch with all profits going to solidarity not silence.

They’re not afraid of creating controversy either. At the beginning of 2019 the band declined the opportunity to represent the UK at the Eurovision song contest because this years host country is Israel. Boycotting Eurovision is a clear message that the band are showing their support for Palestine.

My favourite video is ‘Let Go of the Past’ which shows the band in sixties outfits and moves through a girls magazine similar to that of Jackie or Seventeen. The video is filled with sixties nostalgia and cleverly has the lyrics run throughout. It is a fun and smart, just like they are. The song is deeper than the brightly coloured video suggests, with lyrics about moving on and not letting past grievance’s hold you back from the future and ruin the present.

Their music is varied, from feminist anthems ‘What’s on the Radio’ and ‘Tut Tut Tut’ which details how the band will steal girl fans from misogynist boy bands to ‘1982’ which still has the classic punk feel expected from The Tuts but has dreamy indie vocals throughout the chorus. All the way through to slow and melancholic ‘You’re So Boring’ which is a lovely interlude on the ‘Update Your Brain’ album. The bands overall feel is very much punk. Not just musically but with their attitude and the way that they give a voice to issues surrounding sexism, racism and the powerful elite institutions running the country.

People powers knock down corporate towers.

Give Us Something Worth Voting For // The Tuts (2016)

My favourite song, ‘Give Us Something Worth Voting For’ is a UK punk anthem for the 21st century. Dealing with topical issues surrounding the government, liberal ideology and summarising how the corrupt system is influencing us at grass roots levels and how we can call for change. Even though the album the song features on ‘Update Your Brain’ was released almost 3 years ago, it is just as relevant now as it was then.

My top 5 favourite songs from the band have been added to the Featured Artist’s Playlist so make sure to give that a follow to discover those as well as ones from the 4 previous featured artists. All of The Tut’s social media links are below so check them out if you want to keep up to date with the bands music as well as help them topple the patriarchy!

The Tut’s Website
Featured Artist’s Playlist
The Tut’s Twitter
The Tut’s Instagram 

Anteros

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“Hailing from across the globe, and pulling influence from ‘70s new wave, ‘80s pop sensibilities, all the way through to the ‘00s grit-n-grind indie scene, Anteros spin it in a new and thrilling direction”

NME Article on the band

Anteros are a 4 piece band consisting of Josh Rumble on bass guitar, drummer Harry Balazs, Jackson Couzens on guitar and lead singer Laura Hayden. Residing in London now, originally the 3 boys are from all over the UK and Laura is from Barcelona.

From left to right: Harry, Laura, Jackson, Josh

Many of the bands songs revolve around the theme of being in your twenties, being young, making mistakes and attempting to grow from them. Lead singer Laura is also the main songwriter for the band and many of her songs touch on these subjects surrounding being young. One of the best, in my opinion, is ‘Call Your Mother’ which includes the lines ‘‘Call your mother she can’t make it better // Tell your father that you really fucked up’ which summaries how it feels making stupid mistakes and then having to relay these to your parents if you dare to.

Leading Lady Laura is the front woman and song writer for the band

Love, equality and Women Power: working together instead of against each other.

Laura talking about the Bonnie music video in an Interview for DIY

Many of the songs also focus on the typical aspects of your twenties too – falling in love, getting drunk, falling out of love. But the band also focus on a range of important political and social issues too. Last year they sold ‘Fiery Rose’ t-shirts (lyrics from the single Bonnie) and all proceeds went to Women’s Aid. The video for Bonnie, which Laura co-directed, also shows two women dancing together in a boxing ring – highlighting aspects like ‘love, equality and women power’.

As well as highlighting and providing a platform for women’s equality issues, the band are raising awareness around the harm that plastic is doing to the planet. They’ve explained in interviews that they are rallying for venues to cut down their use of of non-reusable plastics including plastic cups and straws. Their video for ‘Drive On’ – linked below – shows the band being consumed and suffocated by plastics, the perfect metaphor for the way we are heading if with do not drastically change our relationship with plastics.

The bands video for ‘Drive On’ carries an important environmental message about the dangers of polluting our oceans with non-reusable and non-biodegradable plastics

The band have supported the likes of Two Door Cinema Club, Blaenavon and White Lies and are heading out on their own UK tour starting on April 7th in Nottingham. The bands debut album is also being released this month! There is no official date as of yet but I can’t wait to hear more from this exciting up and coming band!

To find out when the album is released make sure to follow Anteros on their social media links below as well as following the Featured Artists playlist on Spotify which has been updated with my top 5 favourite Anteros songs.

Featured Artists Playlist
Anteros’ Twitter
Anteros’ Website
Anteros’ Instagram