My Recommendation: Leiana

Today’s recommendation comes from Philadelphia, PA by the band Leiana, a punk outfit with visible traces of The Runaways and Joan Jett And The Blackhearts, formed around the singer / songwriter Leiana Grasso with a revolving cast of session players and friends for the instruments.

Leiana started off playing piano and drums as a kid but soon picked up a guitar and started writing songs, she got her first licks in local rock cover bands but found her love in the British Punk and 80’s SoCal Hardcore bands;

“These bands spoke to me. As time went on and pop music got more and more horrible, I would dive deeper into a particular scene from the past.”

She moved to LA briefly for a stint at the Musician’s Institute and several LA based bands but returned to Philadelphia to release her debut album Page on her own label.

The thing that stands out most for me is despite having the face and the body to fit perfectly in the generally over-sexualized persona of a “Rock Frontwoman”, she hasn’t taken the plunge and held her own to let her body of work speak for herself rather than her body, here’s what she said about that;

“There is no need in trying to be who people want you to be. Music allows you to be true to yourself and hold your ground. It is the most powerful catalyst for positive change and energy … I believe in music’s ability to speak to people, make them want to take action. I also believe anyone has the power to make a real change. Women, specifically, should be able to become who they want, hold their ground and be strong for all the right reasons”.

The song I’m recommending, No Going Back is the title track from her sophomore album, I love the bare bones composition of the song, the base thumping start, the intense riff delivering the pitch perfect message of doom, the megaphone vocals also add the all hope lost vibe to the song and makes it even darker, here’s the song