Bad Skin are loud and proud in their new feminist punk anthem and video We Are The Girls — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Raising their musical (and actual) middle fingers high in the tradition of musical forebears like L7, Bikini Kill and No Doubt, the Montreal grunge-pop punkers make their own contribution to the hear-us-roar tradition with an exhilarating anthem that proves it’s never a bad time to fly the flag for the sisterhood — especially when you do it with style, smarts and sass. Heeding the battle cry of singer/rhythm guitarist Dope, the instrumental axis of lead guitarist Caro, bassist Eugeni and drummer Azalee charge forward to advance a message of unabashedly feminist rebellion:
“I don’t care what you say
Or whisper about me
Hey hey hey, we know ‘Cause we are the girls
It’s alright I know what’s going on
We know ‘cause we are the girls.”
“We made this song for one main purpose: to be blasted and sung out loud,” the band say. “We are all strong women, with strong personalities, from different backgrounds and realities, and we wanted this song to be accessible to everyone who doesn’t fit the mold put in place by the straight white male.”
The track has all the musical pluses you’d expect of the genre: Slashing guitars, furious double-time drumming and a chant that’s made for endless repetition on nights out with the squad. But pause your headbanging long enough to listen, and you’ll spot some sweet, subtle details — like a pre-chorus chord shift that owes a slight debt to flamenco, for crying out loud.
And that ain’t the half of the cross-cultural collaboration going on here. Joining the group on the track are South Korean sister act Rumkicks, whose frontwoman Yaewon Jeong makes the perfect foil for Dope’s declarations of defiance. The whole band join Bad Skin in the video, taking to the streets to mug and provoke the camera like 1977 never ended.
“We are big fans of their work, of their music, of their stance, of what they have been through as an all-women punk band,” Bad Skin say of Rumkicks. “And we especially relate to their attitude towards it all. We were very excited that they decided to join us in this crazy project with so much enthusiasm.”
Enthusiasm has been a hallmark of the Bad Skin experience since the band formed in the most punk of ways: Dope put up some flyers and posters looking for musicians, and Caro answered the call. Eugeni and Azalee soon followed suit. That was in 2016; since then, they have appeared on stages around the world, including prestigious festival gigs and opening slots for the likes of Bad Religion. And they’ve released a series of incendiary recordings like the Live Fast Die Punk EP and the singles Clowns for President and Completely Insane.
Watch the video for We Are The Girls above, hear more from Bad Skin below, and find them on their website, Facebook and Instagram.
