Petrol Girls’ latest single ‘Big Mouth’ is all about how marginalised groups are faced with attempts to silence them whenever they speak out and put their points across. A timely and important four minutes, it features a spoken-word sample of Poly Styrene’s voice from the iconic intro to X-Ray Spex’ ‘Oh Bondage! Up Yours!’ (recorded in the late ’70s) – and her words still resonate with many today.
Amidst melodic yet punky riffs and Funeral for a Friend-style yelps, Ren Aldridge declares: ‘I’m raising my voice louder, our silence will not save us’ and rallies against those who seem intent on not giving minorities a voice: ‘Tolerated if we remain quiet. Bodies of the marginalised. Tolerated under their control’; ‘Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard But I think UP YOURS’.
Petrol Girls are raising awareness for the Solidarity Not Silence girls – a group of women who each separately spoke out against the behavior of a man in the music industry. Although legal reasons limit how much the band can talk about this case, they are determined that it shouldn’t set a precedent for silencing marginalised voices in the music industry and beyond. Buy a Solidarity Not Silence T-shirt (as seen in the video) and donate the Solidarity Not Silence girls’ legal representation here.
Catch Petrol Girls on the following live dates:
MAY
02 – SBAM Fest, Wels AT
04 – Ladyfuzz Fest, Brighton UK
05 – Handmade Fest, Leicester UK
05 – 0161 Fest, Manchester UK
09 – The Great Escape Fest, Brighton UK
22 – Anti-Fest, Antwerp BE
23 – Anti-Fest, Amesfoort NL
27 – Rough Trade Instore, Nottingham
28 – Rough Trade Instore, Bristol
29 – Rough Trade Instore, London East
31 – New Cross Inn, London (w/ War on Women)
JUN
01 – Hell Hath No Fury Fest, Manchester
03 – Autonomour Space, Glasgow (w/ War on Women)
04 – Red Rum, Stafford (w/ War on Women)
05 – The Cavern, Exeter (w/ War on Women)
07 – Magasin 4, Brussels BE (w/ War on Women)
09 – Booze Cruise, Hamburg DE
10 – Bei Chez Heinz, Hannover DE (w/ War on Women)
11 – Underdogs, Prague CR (w/ War on Women)
12 – Schlachthof, Wiesbaden DE (w/ War on Women)
13 – AJZ Bahndamm, Wermelskirchen DE (w/ War on Women)
14 – Jugendhaus West, Stuttgart DE (w/ War on Women)
15 – Gibus Club, Paris FR (w/ War on Women)
16 – Le Farmer, Lyon FR (w/ War on Women)
18 – Dynamo Werk 21, Zurich CH (w/ War on Women)
19 – EKH, Vienna AT (w/ War on Women)
20 – Kapu, Linz AT (w/ War on Women)
21 – Glockenbachwerkstatt (w/ War on Women)
22 – Bollwerk 107, Moers (w/ War on Women)
28 – Trabendo – Paris, France (w/ La Dispute)
29 – Carlswerk Victoria – Cologne, Germany (w/ La Dispute)
30 – Gorilla – Manchester, United Kingdom (w/ La Dispute)
JUL
01 – Saint Luke’s – Glasgow, United Kingdom (w/ La Dispute)
02 – Electric Brixton – London, United Kingdom (w/ La Dispute)
05 – Astra – Berlin – Berlin, Germany (w/ La Dispute)
06 – Roskilde Festival
07 – Conne Island – Leipzig, Germany (w/ La Dispute)
08 – Schlachthof – Wiesbaden, Germany (w/ La Dispute)
09 – Legend Club – Milan, Italy (w/ La Dispute)
11 – 2000Trees Festival, Cheltenham UK
13 – Kliko Fest, Haarlem, NL