Women Led Bands From The Bay Area
Who runs the world? That's right: grrrls. I’m highlighting the Bay Area's most beloved frontwomen and nonbinary musicians, bringing that raw femme edge to our rich local music scene. Live shows are still a ways out, but these artists' streaming pages will have to hold you over for now — gotta practice those lyrics for crowd-screaming season to eventually come back. This one goes out to all of our trail-blazing, bass-hitting, genre-defying leading ladies.
Trails and Ways
On their Spotify page, Trails and Ways self-describes as "bossa nova dream pop," and they couldn't be more accurate. The band met while studying at UC Berkeley, and it's fair to say that former lead singer and bassist Emma Oppen and former lead guitarist and keyboardist Hannah Van Loon do nothing but run the show. Inspired by California vibes and reminiscent of bands like Beach Fossils and Passion Pit, the band released music from 2011 to 2016, Oppen and Van Loon then parting ways to pursue new chapters. We may not be getting any new music from the OG Trails and Ways, but that doesn't mean their older indie jams don't still pull up 2010s nostalgia.
Find Trails and Ways:
Kitty Kat Fan Club
The San Jose-based Kitty Kat Fan Club is a hot mixture of musicians each coming from a number of Bay Area bands and musical projects. Originally serving as an excuse for a bunch of friends to hang out and play music together, the collective put out a full-length album in 2019 called Dreamy Little You after releasing a series of EPs and singles. Featuring the gritty ska-punk vocals of Just Friends' Brianda Goyos León, the band has been releasing singles all year that are just waiting for you to listen. If jangly indie with driving drums is your thing, check them out!
Find Kitty Kat Fan Club:
Sally Mango
The simplest way to describe Sally Mango is that they're a true treat for the ears. Dream-inducing vocals by lead singer Zia paired with funky-jazzy undertones make for a smooth-as-butter concoction of sounds for your brain to feast on. They have a medley of singles + EPs to check out (if you too want to become a Mangosteen), including our personal favorites – Green Apple, Wannado, and one of their newest drops, Sunlight/Moonlight. Sally Mango is based out of the Sunset District in SF, bringing the sunniest of vibes to even the foggiest of neighborhoods.
Find Sally Mango:
Destroy Boys
Destroy Boys has been putting Northern California punk back on the map for the last few years (they're from Sacramento but are currently San Francisco-based, so they count here). The three-piece band is led by singer and guitarist Violet Mayugba and lead singer and guitarist Alexis Roditis, who started the band together in the middle of their teenage years. The band heavily advocates for more women, nonbinary, LGBTQ+, differently-abled people and people of color working behind the scenes of music production and touring, and Destroy Boys also played in SF's own Noise Pop Festival in 2018. This band is required Bay Area listening: start with Make Room and go from there.
Find Destroy Boys:
King Woman
Singer Kristina Esfandiari found King Woman in 2009 as a solo project, but it's grown into big, big things since then. Described as metallic shoegaze, the band's sound is melancholic, brooding, and wistful, driven by Esfandiari's dark, breathy vocals (which have been previously praised by Pitchfork). The band signed to Relapse Records in 2016 and released its first full-length album, Created In the Image of Suffering, in 2017. They're Mazzy Star meets Black Sabbath — and for a band from San Francisco, this should come as no surprise. Women in metal = bliss.
Find King Woman:
Tsunami Bomb
It's time for Petaluma to shine: From right around the Bay Area's wine country, Tsunami Bomb came to fruition in 1998, co-found by keyboardist and vocalist Oobilette Sparks. The band fuses SoCal hardcore and NorCal punk with an occasionally added synth, perfect for the old days of Mountain View's annual Warped Tour stop. The band took a hiatus in 2005 before eventually coming back onto the scene in 2016. The "old stuff" may hold a special place in Bay Area punk hearts, but don't stop there: The band released a record in 2019 full of Women's Month hits like "Dead Men Can't Catcall."
Find Tsunami Bomb:
The Seshen
The Seshen is one of the brightest hidden gems the Bay has to offer. Coming from the San Francisco area, The Seshen is fronted by the mystifying Lalin St. Juste, whose vocals are often heftily compared to the likes of one Erykah Badu. Producing both club-ready dance tracks and kickback-approved beats, the band is prepared to transport you to a moment of atmospheric ecstasy with its cerebral sound. The Seshen released its third studio album CYAN last year, but there's really not an unworthy track to be found in the six-piece group's repertoire.
Find The Seshen:
The Donnas
The Donnas are everything: That's it, that's the whole post. Formed in Palo Alto in the early '90s, the hyper-talented rock 'n' roll ladies secured a record deal right out of high school. They cycled through a whole list of band names before settling on their current moniker and starting to refer to each other as Donna F., Donna A., Donna R., and Donna C. The band sang a cover of "Dancing With Myself" for the Mean Girls soundtrack in 2004 after jumping on with mega-label Atlantic Records in 2001. After over 20 years, the group is still making rocking music for the MTV babies of yesteryears. It's safe to say that Freaks and Geeks' Kim Kelly would've adored this band, and if that's not cool enough for you to listen, then you're definitely a geek.
Find The Donnas:
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
A little dash of fun for your day! Thao Nguyen leads The Get Down Stay Down and all their gloriously uplifting, thoughtful tunes that rock anywhere between the influences of indie, rock & roll, dream-pop, and folk, with a lovely touch of grooviness. What more do you need? Their latest album, Temple, was fully produced in a house by Thao and member Adam Thompson last year, according to their Spotify bio, so you can feel the personal touches throughout the lyrical stories of the album. Not to mention its major dance-in-the-living-room-ability.
Find Thao & The Get Down Stay Down:
MintJulep
Take a breath with MintJulep's easy, breezy jazz tunes. Producing out of Berkeley, the combo started in 2016 when vocalist and songwriter Maya Morales and keyboardist Tristan Burke started working together in a UC Berkeley jazz club. The band is influenced by artists such as Hiatus Kaiyote and Ella Fitzgerald, and their music can be found on a Spotify playlist titled "Smooth as the butter I use to wax my shortboard." They released their first EP Sonic Medicine in 2019, but 2018's "In Tandem" is another great place to start your jazz journey.
Find MintJulep:
Grass Widow
All hail the girl band! San Francisco's Grass Widow is made up of Hannah Lew, Raven Mahon, and Lillian Maring, who formed the indie band in the late 2000s age of DIY. Grass Widow's three-part vocal sections and skipping time reflect everything coming out of England's post-punk music scene at the time, an undeniable influence on their fuzzy, moody sound. It's been almost a decade since the band split apart to pursue other projects, but it's never too late to jump into this dizzying discography.
Find Grass Widow:
The Moore Family Band
The Moore Family Band is rather new on the scene — having released their first record last year, it's about time we saw some fresh faces on the Bay Area's music radar. Yes, the band actually is a trio of siblings (Alyssa, Randy, and Dylan Moore) who are diving head-first into the worlds of alt rock and pop punk. Raised in San Jose, Dylan and Randy played in a different band before feeling particularly inspired by all of this new pandemic free time to develop a side project with their sister. They spent all of quarantine so far writing and recording music, so have yourself a listen.
Find The Moore Family Band:
Small Crush
Small Crush sounds how a spring picnic with fresh fruit and green grass feels (even if not all of the lyrics are that bright and cheery). Their songs are short and sweet, full of poetic writing and lazying melodies. Led by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Logan Hammon, Small Crush is the true definition of a garage band, looking for the perfect place to make some art and have a good time. The indie quartet is undoubtedly Frankie Cosmos-adjacent, so they're bound to become your favorite band.
Find Small Crush:
