Frida Kill – City Gurl

Brooklyn Punk Band Frida Kill share “City Gurl” video via Get Better Records.

CITY GURL album out 11/7 via Get Better Records + Insecurity Hits.

Formed in 2019, Frida Kill started out writing politically charged songs about all of the negative experiences and anxieties that came with late stage capitalism and three years of living under the Trump administration.

“I once felt like if I sang in a punk band no one would listen to me, no one would book us and no one would care,” says Maria Lina, one of the band’s vocalists. “But I realized the music wasn’t only for me, but for anyone who has been silenced and who has felt alone like I once did. You are certainly not alone in this world.”

The band released their debut full-length Kill! Kill! in December 2023 as a joint release through Insecurity Hits Records and Get Better Records.

While Kill! Kill! sonically is more energetic and upbeat throughout the entirety of its 12-tracks, City Gurl, maintains its emphasis on songs with urgent messages but expands on Frida Kill’s sonic palette, including droning songs that build to a crescendo (“The Crowd,” “Chinatown Bus,” “Burn It Down”), tracks that will fire up the mosh pit (“Pain Killer”), soulful Spanish language tracks (“La Rosa Peligrosa”) and the title track which already has proved to be a fun, infectious fan-favorite, “City Gurl.”

Speaking of “City Gurl”, Maria Lina says: “When I wrote City Gurl I was listening to a lot of music from the Indie sleaze era. Bands like Glass Candy, New Young Pony Club, and Santigold. I wanted to write songs more personal to my actual life and what I was going through and feeling at the time while also being inspired to make more dance, upbeat bangers. Something real but something I can dance to or rock out to.”

When recalling the making of “Burn It Down,” Lily Gist says: “Starting from scratch over and over again, living whole lives in fractions of lifespans. When I moved to NYC I burnt my life to the ground. I changed my name for the third time and cut off old contacts. The life that I tried to build wasn’t what I thought it would be so I burnt that down and tried again. And again, and again. With time and debt my life learned to burn itself down despite me. I built it up again to favor stability then burnt it down to protect my community. I built it up again, tying together gigs and living close to the edge, then the world caught fire and burnt it down again.”

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