#riot girl

✨ eat whatever you want ✨

Lilian Maring, Hannah Lew, and Raven Mahon belying their talents with averted gazes

San Francisco trio Grass Widow make the catcalls of riot girl palatable by borrowing from other genres, notably post-punk, surf-rock, and psych-pop. Internal Logic, released last May, opens with “Goldilocks Zone,” which at first sounds like the meandering notes of a schizophrenic’s mind, but soon becomes a suitable score for getaway drivers and ice truckers with its ghostly chorus of “just drive.” There is something much deeper to Grass Widow’s music than the simple novelty of a girl-fronted band making can’t-describe-genre-without-sounding-esoteric sounds. 

Drummer/vocalist Lillian Maring, bassist/vocalist Hannah Lew, and adorable guitarist/vocalist Raven Mahon, chose the name Grass Widow for their three-piece band as a way to represent their meta approach to music. The phrase stems from 17th century literature; an expression referring to a woman whose husband is away at sea. The name itself invokes imagery of the unknown - a solitary figure on the shore of some forlorn beach, gazinging into infinity, with a mind seething to regain the lost experiences of an introspective life. 

“We write lyrics about very personal and often dark subjects, but present the ideas in a way that disguises the content with metaphor and upbeat instrumentation,” says Raven Mahon.

Grass Widow is inspired by the legacy of female artists before them. Their music is egalitarian with no front person and equal contribution on the part of the lyric writing and song construction.

While I remain cautious in my enthusiasm for DIY bands, Grass Widow gets my whole-hearted approval. With lyrics like “gone are the days of melting in the sun,” in “Under the Atmosphere,” it’s hard to make this music applicable to my life in Hawaii. To ameliorate such musical irrelevance conflict, I’ve made a music video for Grass Widow. Featuring the lost boys of Makiki and the basement boys of East Honolulu, I hope you find enjoyment in my work. 

Merry christmas! Here’s my band’s new single called ‘Sex After Parties’! Remember: Ho ho ho, no means no!

My punkband Get Jealous just released their first live video so CHECK IT OUT!

gentle reminder that girli’s new ep “ex talk” is out next friday !!

✨ i’m a cassette tape, wires spinnin’ out, and i’m skippin’ up the beat, lettin’ everybody down ✨

“Baiting Katie Hopkins, crawling Dalston’s clubs: teenage upstart GIRLI is Britain’s most unconventional pop star, and she wants you to express yourself ” - GIRLI’s feature in TimeOut magazine, 28.07.2016

girli’s deal with it music video was an absolute masterpiece