There’s independent, and then there’s Tarah Who?.
Led by French-born musician Tarah Carpenter, the Joshua Tree-based project has spent years doing things the hard way: writing, recording, touring, producing, building a label and getting in the van again. Punk, grunge and garage rock all feed into the sound, but the thing tying it together is Tarah herself: direct, stubborn, thoughtful and completely uninterested in waiting for somebody else’s permission.
Tarah started out as a drummer in France, teaching herself after being told drums weren’t really an instrument for girls. She eventually moved to Los Angeles and built Tarah Who? from DIY shows and warehouse gigs upwards. Over the years the band have toured extensively across the US and Europe and shared stages with the likes of L7, Life of Agony, Madball and Prong.
The Last Chase
Tarah Who?’s most recent album, The Last Chase, came out in September 2024 through Pavement Entertainment.
Produced by Tarah alongside Alain Johannes, whose enormous CV includes Queens of the Stone Age, Chris Cornell and Them Crooked Vultures, the album pulls together 11 tracks of grunge, punk and alternative rock without sanding away the rough edges.
Two particular favourites are ‘You Don’t See Me’ and ‘Army of Women’.
‘Army of Women’ is exactly as subtle as its title suggests: huge riffs, defiance and a call for solidarity, built around the idea of women standing together rather than being pushed apart.
You can find The Last Chase on Apple Music, or dig through Tarah Who?’s earlier releases on Bandcamp.
More than the band
There’s a film in the works too.
Filmmaker Brian Downie has been documenting Tarah’s story, with the official Tarah Who? movie trailer already out and footage following the making of The Last Chase. The project digs into the realities of building a life around an independent band, rather than just showing the shiny bits at the end.
That long-term DIY commitment is one of the things that makes Tarah such a good fit for LOUD WOMEN. This isn’t somebody parachuting into punk aesthetics for a record cycle. It’s years of touring, graft, making records, organising things independently and carrying on when the sensible option would probably have been to stop.
Tarah Who? at LOUD WOMEN Fest Colorado
Tarah Who? will join us at the Fox Theatre in Boulder on Saturday 7 November for the first ever LOUD WOMEN Fest Colorado.
They’re coming in from Joshua Tree to join a lineup connecting DIY scenes across Colorado with artists travelling from elsewhere in the US, Mexico and the UK.
All Thicc + Bitchflower + Blankslate + Brokentear + Dressy Bessy + Fatal Femmes + GUNK! + I, Doris + Tarah Who? + The Dollheads
LOUD WOMEN Fest Colorado
Saturday 7 November 2026
Fox Theatre, Boulder, Colorado
Doors 3pm · music 4pm · 16+
GET TICKETS FOR LOUD WOMEN FEST COLORADO
Follow Tarah Who? on Instagram and find more music, videos and band history at tarahwho.com.
We’re very glad all those roads are finally leading to Boulder.
