The Linda Lindas Branch way out on ‘Gotta Get Out,’ Band’s Third Album

While most of the members of The Linda Lindas were still teenagers, they’d already had
their music featured in movies, performed on late night shows, and played with truly iconic
groups like Bikini Kill and Green Day. When a band has that much success that early in their
lives, it can be a tossup to see where their career continues to go.

For The Linda Lindas, it led to the band’s third album, Gotta Get Out, which was released Aug. 28, and features some of the band’s most bold and inventive music yet. Longtime listeners of the band will notice a shift in The Linda Linda’s sound almost immediately. While the band’s previous works were more straightforward punk rock and pop punk, Gotta Get Out, the album’s title track, is moody, funkier and more electronic-forward than anything the band has released before.

The band has never shied away from getting political, but are perhaps at their most
brazen than on “Blood On Our Hands,” one of the album’s singles that directly calls out some of the actions taken by the United States government under Trump. “Give me a good reason all the money we spend goes to mass murder, when does it end? All the people here, we’ll let them go hungry. How does building camps and dropping bombs help our country? Give me a good reason that they’re taking away healthcare and food that people need day to day,” bassist and vocalist Eloise Wong says in the song.

The band continues to directly call out the Trump Administration in the verse, and refers
to the country as a fascist state. “And I don’t care about your wealth, I don’t care about your tax breaks. Nothing big or beautiful about a fascist state,” Wong sings. The hardcore-inspired track with intense vocals from Wong is one of the most stark departures from the band’s established sound throughout Gotta Get Out, with a heavy and chilling reminder that as United States residents, we all have blood on our hands due to our government’s actions.

One of the fun things to have watched throughout The Linda Lindas’s career is who the
band has chosen to collaborate with, and their choice on Gotta Get Out, with a feature from
Hayley Williams on the song “Closer.” The moody track, which reminded me a bit of “Decode,” the iconic Paramore song from the “Twilight” soundtrack, highlights some of the best of what the band has to offer, as well as a phenomenal guest spot from Hayley Williams, whose voice always sounds perfect.

“Burning Out” and “High Horse” show a lot of creativity, and are great alt-rock jams, with
infectious choruses. What the album ultimately lacks is cohesiveness. It sometimes feels like songs are randomly thrown together, and things don’t fit together perfectly. But, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It makes Gotta Get Out an extremely interesting listen—you never really know what’s coming next.

From the Spanish language jam, “Helado de Límon,” to the intense political hardcore track “Blood On Our Hands,” to Hayley William’s incredible feature, there are so many pleasant surprises that it made for a great listen. The Linda Lindas had a good format that they stuck to for the band’s earlier releases when they were starting out, but they branched out, and branched out hard on Gotta Get Out, and it was fascinating. Let’s see the uniquely inspired places where the band continues to go from here.

In support of Gotta Get Out, The Linda Lindas will be touring throughout the United
States and Canada this fall. Gotta Get Out is available now on all streaming platforms.