Five New Female Fronted Rock Bands You Need To Hear

Here at Right Chord Music, we’ve always had a penchant for loud, and recently it feels like our ‘loud itch’ is being scratched by way more female-fronted bands. Forget about the sappy faux empowerment of the Spice Girls, this is real life, it’s visceral, honest, in your face and we love it. Here are five female-fronted rock bands you need to hear immediately. Push your way to the front.

Gebrüder Manns

Originally formed in 1996 under the moniker CUP C, Gebrüder Manns have risen like a phoenix from the flames almost 20 years later with the three original members Marie Nielsen (vocals), Karin Schroeder (bass) and Annika Manns (guitar) now working alongside Berlin-based drummer Sabine Ahlbrecht (“Nervous Germans”, “Scheisskind”). with a promise to be louder and more energetic than ever before.

Their sound harks back to a time when nu-metal and rap crossover ruled the world, clubs and festival stages. If you were drawing a Venn diagram Gebrüder Manns would sit at the intersection of the fury of Rage Against The Machine and the aggressively pop groove of Limp Bizkit. Now back playing live, their set contains new material alongside reworked material from their first incarnation. If you get the chance to see them, take it.

Writing about topics including beauty, ego, extremism, brutality, naivety, love, sex and death and are as compelling as they are loud.

The latest single ‘Take This Back’ is the perfect showcase for their sound and style, with a reassuringly familiar nod to Rage Against The Machine, the intro simmers and snarls before exploding with pounding drums and crunching guitars. A dark and menacing undertone runs throughout. These women are not about to settle for anything less than perfection. “Take this back and give me something better”.

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Borderline Toxic

Borne out of lockdown, Borderline Toxic are a heavy, alt-rock band from London. They combine funk and hard rock with face-melty riffs and lyrical twists. The influences that inspired Gebrüder Manns are also evident here.

Scottish-born lead singer Kerry Glass grew up on a diet of Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alice in Chains and KoRn.

After legendary British drummer, Pete RayBiggin (Level 42, Amy Winehouse, Chaka Khan) introduced Kerry to Norwegian drummer/producer Henrik Fossum (Brand New Heavies, PB Underground, James Arthur) the seeds of the band were sewn. They quickly bonded over a love of hard-hitting rock.

Borderline Toxic formally announced their arrival with the release of their debut original single “Mr Obsanity” in October 2021. The single immediately delivered on Kerry’s aim to create music that triggers people with Mr Obsanity taking aim at powerful figures who swing around casual misogyny and bigotry.

It’s sad to consider how perfectly Borderline Toxic are soundtracking the world we live in. This intensity and purpose was perfectly visualised in the accompanying animated music video which was created by artist Simon Mulligan.

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Glytsh

The explosive Glytsh duo mix their love of metal, pole dancing and haunting sonic soundscapes and visuals.

Formed in late 2021, when french singer Jennifer Diehl (aka Luna Blake) and Swiss guitarist Claire Genoud (aka Hella Sin) decided to start writing their own music together after meeting in a covers band. Like Borderline Toxic, Glytsh’s music also aims to empower and inspire female and LGBTQ+ listeners.

(Hard)core Memory was their 2nd single and talks about the addictive and destructive side of love. The release perfectly picked up, where their debut ‘Closer’ a reinvented version of the Nine Inch Nails classic left off.

Latest single ‘Sav@ge’ a fierce song about not fitting in as a woman, either in a relationship or in society. Highlighting that when a woman expresses opinions or feelings she is likely to be labelled as emotional, hysterical or high maintenance.

Sav@ge combines elements of hip-hop, electronic, metal and rock. The mix of groovy low-tuned riffs, screaming vocals and electronic beats make for a wild ride.

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The Bobby Lees

The Bobby Lees sound like the musical love child of Janis Joplin and The Datsuns. It’s dirty, grungey, garage rock combined with a vocal power that with leave you cowering in the corner. This female fronted rock band are making their mark.

The Bobby Lees founded in Woodstock, New York in 2018 existing of vocalist and guitarist Sam Quentin, bassist Kendall Wind, drummer Macky Bowman and guitarist Nick Casa.

They first entered our consciousness back in 2018 with the release of their debut album Beauty Pageant. The success of the album led to support slots with the likes of The Black Lips and Future Islands.

Follow-up record Skin Suit was released in 2020, produced by Jon Spencer and released via Alive Naturalsound Records. More plaudits followed and the album made the San Francisco Examiner’s Top 10 Albums of the year list.

Their latest release is the 5-track EP Monkey Mind, expect the praise to continue.

The band take their name from the track Bobby Lee off their debut EP. It’s about a ghost who used to visit vocalist Sam Quentin. Sam has openly shared details of her history of alcohol-induced schizophrenic episodes which frequently inspire her lyrics.

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Panic Shack

Sick of music being a male-only members club, this energetic, colourful Welsh four-piece consisting of Sarah Harvey (vocals), Meg Fretwell (guitar/backing vocals), Romi Lawrence (guitar/backing vocals), Em Smith (bass) and Ed Barker (drums) decided to do something about it.

Armed with acerbic, witty lyrics, killer hooks and ear-crunching noise they gate-crashed the party.  Unapologetically raw, and delightfully DIY, Panic Shack immediately feel like the thing that’s been missing from your life.

Discover more from Panic Shack

Discover more female-fronted rock bands in the RCM archive

Words Mark Knight

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