North London’s coolest punk grunge band have just released their new EP, Reclaim Your Life.
Featuring sisters Delilah and Ursula Holliday, along with their cousin Amelia Cutler (who casually balances bass playing with studying neuroscience at King’s College London), they celebrated their latest release with a recent headline set at Hackney’s coolest new venue, Moth Club.
The glitzy cute décor of ex veteran club Moth, which features an actual glitter ceiling, compliments their sound perfectly and provides the perfect backdrop for an enthralled dancing audience.
Armed with possibly the best selection of merch ever (including an amazing cat embossed bomber jacket and multiple DIY zines), they showcased new songs from their forthcoming EP, containing punchy opening effort ‘Silver Spoon’ which echoes their previous efforts with trademark rough and raw riffs. ‘Wasted Smile’ puts Courtney Love to shame with the strength of its shouty vocals.
With a previous opening slot for The Slits’ Viv Albertine under their belt, and having already graced publications such as Dazed and Confused, it’s easy to understand why Skinny Girl Diet have been labelled as the saviours of punk music.
Numerous comparisons to 90s Riot Grrrl have also emerged – a label they feel is better applied in the context of the 90s political movement. Instead they see themselves as bringing this into a contemporary setting, with the need to combat the gender inequality in alternative punk music. The band have been very vocal in the past about their frustration with the lack of girls in this scene as opposed to pop or RnB music, and seek to rectify that.
Skinny Girl Diet go by a name which is direct social commentary against current idealistic beauty standards -just search ‘Skinny Girl Diet’ in Tumblr as I did when researching this piece and you’ll soon see what they’re up against. Indeed the strength of their music juxtaposes the media narrative of a culture obsessed with unrealistic aesthetics and echoes the political notes of their 90s predecessors.
Its easy to see why there is so much hype around Skinny Girl Diet, as Viv Albertine says: ‘At last, real girls, young and believable, singing in their own voices’.
Harisa recommends: ‘Silver Spoon’
‘Reclaim Your Life’ is available on iTunes here.
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