Petrol Girls

Petrol Girls are a feminist post-hardcore punk band, originally formed in London, with members from Austria, Lithuania and the UK. Now based in Austria, and touring incessantly, the band are strong advocates of freedom of movement, anti-capitalism and intersectional feminism. With a wide range of musical influences, and having had the pleasure to support bands such as Strike Anywhere, The Dead Kennedys, Propagandhi, RVIVR, War on Women and Refused, the band are constantly developing musically as well as politically. ‘Baby’ is scheduled to be released via Hassle Records on June 24th 2022. Speaking about the upcoming album, vocalist Jen Aldridge says, “I wanted to do something on police violence, abolitionists politics and kicking back against carceral feminism. I was thinking about the time my friend was arrested and strip searched by The Met, horrifically. I was thinking about Sarah Everard, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, and about Sarah Reed. I was thinking of Marcia Rigg, and all her campaigning work since her brother Sean died in police custody. All of these things were going around my head. My balance of where I put my energy has moved away from just grieving injustice and more towards working out what needs to change and how do we collectively do that. That’s something I needed for my mental health as well, because I can’t live in a constant state of grief and anger. I need to have purpose and vision in the ways I’m fighting back.” Petrol Girls are named after Pétroleuses, mythical women of the Paris commune who allegedly set fire to private property with Molotov cocktails made from milk bottles, and rejected traditional gender roles. The inspiration came from a talk on Women and Protest given by writer Laurie Penny, who loosely translated Pétroleuses to Petrol Girls. The band first formed in 2013 for a house show that singer Ren was putting on to celebrate International Women’s Day. This feminist context was essential for the band’s formation within a wider music community that at the time did very little to encourage women’s participation.