10 All-Female Bands for Your International Women’s Day Playlist

International Women’s Day is just around the corner! From riot grrrl pioneer Sleater-Kinney to newcomer HINDS, here are 10 badass girl bands that will rock your day.

1. Dream Wife

This Icelandic-British band ain’t no “wifey” material. Dream Wife combines saccharine pop tunes with something much, much darker, subverting the Manic Pixie Dream Girl cliche at every turn. The sharp contrast between the ethereal harmonies and snarling growls evokes an image of a smashed-in cake, very much like the one in this video.

2. HINDS

Madrid’s girl gang HINDS belts out sunny lo-fi rock anthems, dances in parking lots, and chugs forties in shopping carts. Their much anticipated debut album “Leave Me Alone” reveals a complex yet frank portrait of heartbreaks and beer-soaked parties, crowning them as one of the coolest girl bands around. On top of all this awesomeness, they also weighed in on sexism in the music industry.

3. La Luz

This surf rock quartet resembles their hometown Seattle. Lodged in between the beach shores and the perpetual overcast, La Luz sports a doo-wop girl group sound oozing with inexplicably gloomy undercurrents. Their sophomore album “Weirdo Shrine”—produced by Ty Segall—emanates ennui and exuberance like the fog-veiled sun.

4. Skinny Girl Diet

Dressed in all pleather like a biker gang, Skinny Girl Diet patrols their neighbourhood to beat up predators and liberate harassed girls. This cathartic video channels the Tumblr generation’s DIY aesthetics, but the London trio’s feminist manifesto and politically loaded music encompass something much larger—the intrepid punk spirit.

5. MUNA

This Californian trio sounds like an evil (but sensitive) twin sister to HAIM. Both girl bands consist of three members and fearlessly push the boundaries of pop, but MUNA conjures up the darker side of pop. MUNA’s ‘dark pop’ is subtle with the retro inspirations and cranks up the Los Angeles Intelligent Dance Music scene’s influences.

6. Pussy Riot

Balaclava-faced guerrilla performances all over Moscow earned this girl gang a two-year jail sentence for “hoolliganism.” This feminist punk rock protest group places equal importance on their political message as they do on their music. In their most recent release, Pussy Riot tackles the Putin regime’s corruption and discrimination.

7. Savages

This post-punk outfit stays faithful to the sweaty, frenetic, and profound brand of performance that occupies the London punk rock scene. Despite being true to their roots, Savages speaks in a unique and candid voice that embraces sexual fluidity, encourages self-discovery, and champions feminism—all while dismantling the patriarchy.

8. CocoRosie

After losing touch for many years, sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady reconnected in Paris. The reconciliation materialized in a musical collaboration, yielding the most unexpected harmonies (children’s toy and antique instruments, for instance). Their eerie sound adds another dimension to their staunch intersectional feminist message.

9. Icona Pop

This electropop duo leaped into the scene with “I Love It” along with a fellow feminist pop warrior Charli XCX. Icona Pop can do more than just crashing their car into the bridge. Drawing inspirations from the likes of Talking Heads and ABBA, the Stockholm natives carve out Icona Pop’s signature organized chaos, one EDM-infused banger at a time.

10. Sleater-Kinney

Best is indeed saved for the last. The feminist, leftist punk rock trio started out in 1994 at the forefront of the American Pacific Northwest riot grrrl scene. Sleater-Kinney paved the road for many feminist rock bands to come. After seven years of hiatus, the much anticipated reunion was followed by the absolutely impeccable “No Cities to Love” in 2015.

By Serina Lee