Lambrini Girls x Original Magazine
Words by: Anya Duncan
Creative Assistant: Georgia Anthi
Images by: Jessie Morgan
What does it mean to be punk in 2024?
Ever the black sheep of the music industry, this divisive genre has spent decades defining itself by what it isn’t: anti-establishment, anti-commercial, and anti-fascist. But what does it take for a band to embody the spirit of punk in the 21st century? As the world continues to reshape itself around apathetic leaders, femme band Lambrini Girls believe the most important aspect of their punk label is ensuring their art serves as activism, providing visibility for those who are wilfully ignored.
While Lambrini Girls are only just releasing their debut album Who Let the Dogs Out, the band has already spent a great deal of time streamlining their messages against the patriarchy, genocide, and capitalist social constructs. Both musicians are highly aware of their position in the industry; as inherently political figures, they continue to take calculated steps to avoid perpetuating the commodification of protest.
PHEOBE: It gets very sensationalised that you’re a political band, and even if it’s not our intention, we are inadvertently benefiting from that. So, in order to make sure we’re not just making it commodifiable, we have to actualise what we’re saying.
Never afraid to act on their beliefs, the band recently dropped out of The Great Escape Festival due to its association with Barclays, a bank that has invested in companies supplying arms to Israel. However, both members are empathetic towards others who chose to participate in the Brighton-based event.
LILLY: I know a lot of other bands that would’ve been knocked really hard if they pulled out of that. Personally, I hold no judgement. It’s important to consider these things on a case-by-case basis. As much as no one should be crossing a picket line, these things are also a lot more nuanced than that. Essentially, every band needs to make a decision that’s best for them and the people around them.
PHEOBE: No one can exist in the industry (whether that is music, drag, acting, art, or fucking whatever) while being ethically pure. Things will have to be considered. If you take a blanket approach to everything, it just won’t work. You just have to critically think.
LILLY: What is the point of a queer band (a femme band) taking themselves out of spaces entirely when there is no representation in the industry for that? Say you’re on a festival bill with someone problematic—we didn’t do anything, so why should we take ourselves out of the equation just because of the actions of a man? Why should queer people and women suffer for men’s actions in the workplace more than we already do?
Determined to spread their message to a wider audience, Lambrini Girls are firmly positioning themselves at the intersection of increasing their music’s appeal and upholding their core values. While no, it’s not naturally punk to court mainstream audiences, this band is also aware that no progress can be made by building an echo chamber of politically active fans.
Enter Who Let the Dogs Out: a collection of vibrant songs that encourage a wider range of listeners to consider the issues they’re confronting. Sandwiched between songs addressing political observations and biases in the music industry (such as their track Filthy Rich Nepo Baby) are moments of true vulnerability, including Special, Different. Both artists contribute to Lambrini Girls' sound independently. Each song becomes a work that resembles Frankenstein’s monster, where completely unique limbs are stitched to fit a creation of both Lilly and Pheobe’s design.
LILLY: It’s very much her autonomy what we put over each song. I think with Love, for example, we first tried to put the lyrics to Love over the instrumental for Gods Country, which was fucking shit. We see what fits, but it’s a very separate process, to be honest. I’ll start by writing a part and we’ll build a song over that, or we’ll build a song based on a part that Pheobe’s written. Me and Pheobe (both as musicians and as people) are completely different puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. We’re opposite in a way that we complement each other very well.
Who Let the Dogs Out will be available on all platforms from the 10th of January. For anyone interested in exploring how Lambrini Girls have navigated the challenges of crafting an album in an increasingly globalised music industry while maintaining their punk ethos, this record is well worth a listen