Label: Epitaph
Released: 11th October 2024
There’s nothing quite as certain to ruin your day as finding people younger than you who are more successful. Sadly, The Linda Lindas are exactly those kids, being in one of the most exciting pop-punk bands in the world while, sickeningly, still being teenagers.
‘No Obligation’ is just a good old-fashioned pop-punk album. The next in a long line of recent odes to the 90s, the Los Angeles quartet create an album that is the embodiment of checkerboard vans and baggy jeans, reinvigorating the classic imagery of pale teens in California with lip rings and dyed hair. Basically, it’s a Good Charlotte video, but in the best way possible.
Switching between the vocals of Lucia de la Garza and Eloise Wong is a masterstroke, creating sharp contrast and clear edges between self-effacing tracks like anthemic ‘All In My Head’ and urgent punk-rock track ‘Resolution/Revolution’. In so doing, they are able to channel both the tongue-in-cheek arena rock of tourmates Green Day in tracks like ‘Once Upon A Time’, and the foaming, ferocious anger of Rage Against The Machine in searing power-punk opener ‘No Obligation’. There are also nods to the Hispanic roots of three of the band’s members, with ‘Yo Me Estreso’ tying together Mariachi with guitar-rock, evidencing the sheer confidence and outrageous belief the band have in their own ability.
The Linda Lindas are the torchbearers for a new generation of punk-rockers, and this album lets that flame burn even brighter.
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