Today’s video of the day comes from LA’s The Linda Lindas – teen and tween Asian and Latina girls who are here to take the punk baton into a bright new tomorrow – with their part cartoon part mockumentary part punkrockshow video to accompany single ‘Why’.

If you’ve ever worried (daily) that punk is dead, that girls don’t feel empowered enough to start bands, that generation Alpha just want to listen to augmented reality animals making high frequency bleeps through their Minecraft iBoxes [note: check this with the children], The Linda Lindas provide perfectly-formed reassurance that the kids are actually more than alright. The kids are doing it much better than we ever did.

The video, directed by Elizabeth Ito and Suzie Vlček, features Kathleen Hanna as the voice of the interviewer, with story and character design by the band’s Eloise Wong.

Here’s their own report:

“The ‘Why’ music video is a tribute to The Decline of Western Civilization, the legendary 1981 documentary about L.A. punk by Penelope Spheeris, and Spirited Away, one of our favorite Miyazaki movies. It is set an an imaginary Save Music in Chinatown show, part of the series of all-ages matinee fund raisers for music education at Eloise’s school, where we played some of our earliest gigs with some of the musicians from Decline––Alice Bag, Phranc, Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski––who are now our friends. The art was drawn by Eloise, the flyers are real, and no dessert was wasted!”

The LLs have done their punkrock homework. They draw from riot grrrl history, learn from it, and serve it back to us much improved by diversity and 21st century clarity. The video begins with the most valuable kindergarten lesson ever:

“What is punk?“
“Making friends and having fun”
“Eating cookies”
“Doing it yourself”
“Supporting your scene”

Hell yeah. Some old riot grrrls could learn a thing or twenty from these kids.

‘Why’, the song itself is really strong, too, a highlight of their debut album Growing Up, which is out now via Epitaph Records. A fast, positive, insightful and uplifting punkrock song. A* all round.

The Linda Lindas were assembled by Kristin Kontrol (Dum Dum Girls) for Girlschool LA in 2018 and then formed their own garage punk group soon after. Sisters Mila de la Garza (drummer, now 11) and Lucia de la Garza (guitar, 14), cousin Eloise Wong (bass, 13), and family friend Bela Salazar (guitar, 17) developed their chops as regulars at all-ages matinees in Chinatown, where they played with original LA punks like The Dils, Phranc, and Alley Cats; went on to open for riot grrrl legends Bikini Kill and architect Alice Bag as well as DIY heavyweights Best Coast and Bleached; and were eventually featured in Amy Poehler’s movie Moxie.

Catch the Linda Lindas at Islington Academy on 7 June – we certainly will!