🔗 Share this article

If you inquire about the most punk thing she's ever pulled off, Cathy Loughead answers without pause: “I played a show with my neck fractured in two spots. I couldn't jump around, so I bedazzled the brace instead. That was an amazing performance.”

Cathy is a member of a rising wave of women transforming punk music. Although a recent television drama spotlighting female punk premieres this Sunday, it reflects a movement already flourishing well outside the TV.

The Spark in Leicester

This momentum is most intense in Leicester, where a 2022 project – now called the Riotous Collective – set things off. She joined in from the outset.

“In the early days, there existed zero all-women garage punk bands here. In just twelve months, there we had seven. Now there are 20 – and increasing,” she explained. “Collective branches operate throughout Britain and internationally, from Finland to Australia, laying down tracks, gigging, featured in festival lineups.”

This boom extends beyond Leicester. Around the United Kingdom, women are reclaiming punk – and transforming the landscape of live music in the process.

Breathing Life into Venues

“Numerous music spots throughout Britain flourishing thanks to women punk bands,” said Loughead. “Rehearsal rooms are also benefiting, music instruction and mentoring, recording facilities. This is because women are occupying these positions now.”

They are also transforming who shows up. “Women-led bands are gigging regularly. They draw more diverse audiences – people who view these spaces as safe, as belonging to them,” she added.

A Rebellion-Driven Phenomenon

A program director, from a music youth organization, commented that the surge was predictable. “Ladies have been given a ideal of fairness. But gender-based violence is at crisis proportions, radical factions are manipulating women to spread intolerance, and we're manipulated over topics such as menopause. Ladies are resisting – through music.”

Another industry voice, from the Music Venue Trust, observes the trend transforming local music scenes. “We're seeing more diverse punk scenes and they're contributing to community music networks, with grassroots venues programming varied acts and building safer, friendlier places.”

Gaining Wider Recognition

Later this month, Leicester will present the inaugural Riot Fest, a weekend festival showcasing 25 all-women bands from the UK and Europe. Earlier this fall, an inclusive event in London celebrated ethnic minority punk musicians.

And the scene is gaining mainstream traction. One prominent duo are on their first headline UK tour. Another rising group's first record, their record name, reached number sixteen in the UK charts recently.

A Welsh band were in the running for the 2025 Welsh Music Prize. Problem Patterns earned a local honor in last year. A band from Hull Wench appeared at a major event at Reading Festival.

This represents a trend born partly in protest. In an industry still dogged by gender discrimination – where women-led groups remain less visible and music spots are shutting down rapidly – female punk artists are forging a new path: a platform.

Timeless Punk

In her late seventies, one participant is evidence that punk has no expiration date. The Oxford-based washboard player in horMones punk band started playing only recently.

“Now I'm old, all constraints are gone and I can pursue my interests,” she declared. One of her recent songs features the refrain: “So yell, ‘Fuck it’/ This is my moment!/ The stage is mine!/ At seventy-nine / And in my top form.”

“I love this surge of older female punks,” she said. “I couldn't resist in my youth, so I'm rebelling currently. It's wonderful.”

Kala Subbuswamy from the Marlinas also noted she couldn't to rebel as a teenager. “It's been really major to release these feelings at my current age.”

A performer, who has traveled internationally with various bands, also views it as therapeutic. “It's about exorcising frustration: feeling unseen in motherhood, at an advanced age.”

The Freedom of Expression

Comparable emotions led Dina Gajjar to form Burnt Sugar. “Being on stage is a release you never realized you required. Females are instructed to be obedient. Punk isn't. It's raucous, it's flawed. As a result, during difficult times, I consider: ‘I'll write a song about that!’”

But Abi Masih, a percussionist, remarked the punk lady is all women: “We are typical, career-oriented, brilliant women who love breaking molds,” she said.

Maura Bite, of her group the band, agreed. “Women were the original punks. We had to smash things up to be heard. We still do! That rebellious spirit is within us – it feels ancient, primal. We're a bloody marvel!” she exclaimed.

Breaking Molds

Not every band conform to expectations. Two musicians, involved in a band, strive to be unpredictable.

“We avoid discussing certain subjects or use profanity often,” commented one. Her partner added: “However, we feature a small rebellious part in each track.” She smiled: “You're right. However, we prefer variety. Our last track was about how uncomfortable bras are.”