🔗 Share this article

If you inquire about the most punk act she's ever pulled off, Cathy Loughead answers without pause: “I played a show with my neck fractured in two spots. Not able to move freely, so I embellished the brace instead. It was a fantastic gig.”

Loughead belongs to a expanding wave of women transforming punk music. While a new television drama highlighting female punk broadcasts this Sunday, it mirrors a phenomenon already flourishing well past the TV.

The Leicester Catalyst

This drive is most palpable in Leicester, where a recent initiative – now called the Riotous Collective – set things off. Loughead was there from the outset.

“When we started, there existed zero all-women garage punk bands locally. In just twelve months, there were seven. Today there are twenty – and growing,” she remarked. “Riotous chapters exist around the United Kingdom and internationally, from Finland to Australia, laying down tracks, performing live, featured in festival lineups.”

This surge extends beyond Leicester. Throughout Britain, women are reclaiming punk – and altering the landscape of live music in the process.

Rejuvenating Performance Spaces

“Numerous music spots around the United Kingdom doing well because of women punk bands,” she added. “The same goes for practice spaces, music education and guidance, studio environments. The reason is women are filling these jobs now.”

They are also transforming the crowd demographics. “Bands led by women are performing weekly. They're bringing in more diverse audiences – attendees who consider these spaces as protected, as belonging to them,” she continued.

An Uprising-Inspired Wave

Carol Reid, programme director at Youth Music, stated the growth was expected. “Ladies have been given a dream of equality. But gender-based violence is at alarming rates, radical factions are using women to peddle hate, and we're gaslit over subjects including hormonal changes. Ladies are resisting – via music.”

A music venue advocate, from the Music Venue Trust, sees the movement reshaping community music environments. “We're seeing more diverse punk scenes and they're contributing to community music networks, with local spots programming varied acts and building safer, friendlier places.”

Mainstream Breakthroughs

Soon, Leicester will stage the debut Riot Fest, a three-day event showcasing 25 women-led acts from the UK and Europe. Earlier this fall, a London festival in London celebrated punks of colour.

This movement is gaining mainstream traction. The Nova Twins are on their maiden headline tour. The Lambrini Girls's first record, their record name, charted at sixteenth place in the UK charts this year.

Panic Shack were nominated for the an upcoming music award. Problem Patterns earned a local honor in last year. Recent artists Wench performed at a notable festival at Reading Festival.

This represents a trend originating from defiance. Within a sector still plagued by misogyny – where all-women acts remain lacking presence and performance spaces are closing at crisis levels – female punk bands are creating something radical: space.

Timeless Punk

At 79, Viv Peto is testament that punk has no age limit. Based in Oxford washboard player in her band began performing only recently.

“As an older person, restrictions have vanished and I can do what I like,” she stated. A track she recently wrote includes the chorus: “So scream, ‘Fuck it’/ Now is my chance!/ The stage is mine!/ I am seventy-nine / And in my top form.”

“I appreciate this influx of senior women punks,” she commented. “I wasn't allowed to protest in my youth, so I'm doing it now. It's great.”

A band member from her group also noted she couldn't to rebel as a teenager. “It has been significant to be able to let it all out at this point in life.”

Another artist, who has traveled internationally with various bands, also considers it a release. “It involves expelling anger: feeling unseen in motherhood, as an older woman.”

The Power of Release

Similar feelings motivated Dina Gajjar to create her band. “Standing on stage is an outlet you never realized you required. Females are instructed to be obedient. Punk isn't. It's raucous, it's flawed. It means, during difficult times, I think: ‘I should create music from that!’”

Yet, Abi Masih, a band member, stated the female punk is every woman: “We are typical, working, talented females who like challenging norms,” she said.

Another voice, of the act She-Bite, concurred. “Women were the original punks. We needed to break barriers to get noticed. We still do! That rebellious spirit is in us – it appears primal, instinctive. We're a bloody marvel!” she exclaimed.

Challenging Expectations

Not every band fits the stereotype. Julie Ames and Jackie O'Malley, from a particular group, strive to be unpredictable.

“We rarely mention certain subjects or use profanity often,” noted Julie. O'Malley cut in: “However, we feature a brief explosive section in all our music.” Ames laughed: “You're right. But we like to keep it interesting. Our most recent song was on the topic of underwear irritation.”