🔗 Share this article

When asked about the most punk act she's ever accomplished, Cathy Loughead doesn't hesitate: “I played a show with my neck injured in two locations. I couldn't jump around, so I bedazzled the brace instead. It was a fantastic gig.”

Cathy is a member of a expanding wave of women reinventing punk culture. As a new television drama focusing on female punk airs this Sunday, it echoes a phenomenon already thriving well outside the TV.

The Leicester Catalyst

This energy is felt most strongly in Leicester, where a local endeavor – presently named the Riotous Collective – sparked the movement. Cathy participated from the start.

“When we started, there were no all-women garage punk bands locally. In just twelve months, there seven emerged. Today there are twenty – and increasing,” she remarked. “Collective branches operate around the United Kingdom and globally, from Finland to Australia, laying down tracks, performing live, featured in festival lineups.”

This explosion extends beyond Leicester. Across the UK, women are reclaiming punk – and transforming the landscape of live music along the way.

Revitalizing Music Venues

“Numerous music spots across the UK flourishing because of women punk bands,” said Loughead. “So are rehearsal studios, music education and guidance, production spaces. This is because women are filling these jobs now.”

Additionally, they are altering the audience composition. “Women-led bands are gigging regularly. They draw wider audience variety – attendees who consider these spaces as secure, as for them,” she added.

A Movement Born of Protest

Carol Reid, programme director at Youth Music, stated the growth was expected. “Women have been sold a vision of parity. But gender-based violence is at epidemic levels, extremist groups are using women to promote bigotry, and we're manipulated over issues like the menopause. Females are pushing back – through music.”

Toni Coe-Brooker, from the Music Venue Trust, observes the trend transforming regional performance cultures. “We're seeing varied punk movements and they're feeding into regional music systems, with grassroots venues programming varied acts and building safer, more welcoming spaces.”

Mainstream Breakthroughs

Later this month, Leicester will present the inaugural Riot Fest, a weekend festival including 25 women-led acts from the UK and Europe. In September, Decolonise Fest in London celebrated BIPOC punk artists.

This movement is edging into the mainstream. The Nova Twins are on their maiden headline tour. A fresh act's initial release, Who Let the Dogs Out, reached number sixteen in the UK charts recently.

Panic Shack were nominated for the 2025 Welsh Music Prize. A Northern Irish group won the Northern Ireland Music Prize in 2024. Hull-based newcomers Wench played the BBC Introducing stage at Reading Festival.

This represents a trend born partly in protest. In an industry still dogged by misogyny – where female-only bands remain lacking presence and live venues are shutting down rapidly – women-led punk groups are forging a new path: opportunity.

Timeless Punk

At 79, one participant is testament that punk has no age limit. From Oxford percussionist in her band began performing just a year ago.

“As an older person, there are no limits and I can do what I like,” she declared. Her latest composition includes the chorus: “So scream, ‘Who cares’/ It's my time!/ This platform is for me!/ I am seventy-nine / And at my absolute best.”

“I adore this wave of elder punk ladies,” she said. “I didn't get to rebel during my early years, so I'm doing it now. It's fantastic.”

Another musician from the band also noted she couldn't to rebel as a teenager. “It's been really major to finally express myself at this point in life.”

A performer, who has toured globally with various bands, also considers it a release. “It's a way to vent irritation: going unnoticed as a parent, as a senior female.”

The Freedom of Expression

Comparable emotions inspired Dina Gajjar to form Burnt Sugar. “Performing live is a release you never realized you required. Women are trained to be compliant. Punk defies this. It's raucous, it's imperfect. As a result, when negative events occur, I say to myself: ‘I can compose a track about it!’”

But Abi Masih, a percussionist, stated the female punk is any woman: “We are simply regular, working, amazing ladies who love breaking molds,” she commented.

Another voice, of her group She-Bite, concurred. “Females were the first rebels. We needed to break barriers to be heard. This persists today! That fierceness is part of us – it seems timeless, elemental. We are amazing!” she stated.

Breaking Molds

Not every band match the typical image. Band members, involved in a band, aim to surprise audiences.

“We don't shout about age-related topics or curse frequently,” noted Julie. O'Malley cut in: “However, we feature a brief explosive section in all our music.” Julie chuckled: “That's true. Yet, we aim for diversity. Our last track was regarding bra discomfort.”