SXSW 2017 Band To Watch: Muncie Girls

Phil Randall

SXSW 2017 Band To Watch: Muncie Girls

Phil Randall

Ahead of South By Southwest, Stereogum is highlighting a handful of our Band To Watch alumni who have busy schedules at this year’s festival. If you’re in Austin this week, now’s your chance to actually watch some Bands To Watch.

Muncie Girls are traveling to Austin from their home base of Exeter in the UK, and it’s the first time they’ve been stateside since the release of their excellent debut album, From Caplan To Belsize. But the trio are no strangers to the stage — over in Europe, they’ve shared bills with Beach Slang and Anti-Flag, and they’re opening for Los Campesinos! in a couple months — so we can expect their live set to be just as polished as their music already is.

The songs on From Caplan To Belsize are overwhelmingly great — catchy, tight, and enduring pop-punk rippers that have an incisive political edge. Lande Hekt uses her platform to consistently and compellingly engage with modern feminist discourse, all while crafting some of the best hooks in any punk album from the last few years. On “Respect,” she tackles systemic and repeating cycles of abuse and oppression: “It’s started again/ Another girl has lost her energy/ It’s so easy to pretend that this doesn’t happen in our society.” They’re just as effective at getting personal, too, like on the sentimental and aching “Social Side,” which sees Hekt reflecting on her family with fondness. Above all, though, their music has an undeniable sense of energy and fun, and that will surely translate live.

Check out all of their SXSW performances below:

03/13 Mohawk Inside (The Onion/AV Club) – 4:30PM
03/13 British Music Embassy, Latitude 30 (DIY/Ticketweb) – 1:00AM
03/15 BD Riley’s (SXSW Official) – 11:00PM
03/17 Hole In The Wall (Austin Oasis) – 3:30PM

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