I think Alcopop! is my new favourite independent record label. Their roster includes the legendary Bo Ningen, The Menstrual Camps, Problem Patterns, Loose Articles and my latest discovery, Theatre Workers and Television Union, better known as Twat Union. With Glastonbury festival performance in the works (they are shortlisted, but there is no doubt they will perform) and an very positive article in the Guardian, the all female sextet is making a big noise on the indie scene. The band is loud, their performances are fun and colorful, filled with a wicked sense of humor, teenage-like naughtiness, social conscience and politics. Their newest single, “Singer of the Band” is absolutely brilliant too and you do not even have to read this review. Seriously, off you go, grab their merch and tickets, you will have a ball seeing them live. Twat Union is like chocolate, everyone loves chocolate. Unless you are a follower of such stable geniuses like Trump, Elmo Musk or Andrew Tate, then you will not like them, but then nobody will like you and you wouldn’t be invited to their show anyway. Everyone else – Twat Union are bringing back the best qualities of British rock music: imagination, creativity and a big dose of working class pride.
“Singer Of The Band” single cover
Official bio: The feminist chaos pop punk 6 piece from South London are known for their wild, immersive gigs with their trademark provocative humour. Twat Union’s all-girl lineup don’t shy away from topics like period sex, thigh chafe, urinary tracts and people always assuming they are the singer of the band because they are women.
I might have learnt of the existence of Twat Union quite recently, but the London-via-Isle-of-Wight-and-Wales band has been around since 2021. They used to be a 7 piece, sadly guitarist Jelly Cleaver left over a year ago leaving the band with 6 members: Kate Mac (lead vocals), Alice Rivers (keyboards, trumpet, vocals), Lucie Bowles (lead guitar, vocals), Beth Hopkins (saxophone, guitar, vocals), Tessa Alison (bass) and Harriet Sibley (drums). The band lived in shared accommodations in South London, turning their flat into a rehearsal place, writing and perfecting their craft over two and a half years. Since 2023, they played a string of well received and sold out gigs and released two singles: “UTI”, an anthem about urinary tract infections that brought them rave reviews from mainstream press (including the BBC, Radio X, Fresh on the Net and Radio 1), and “Singer of the Band” that was released on February 26th of this year. They have an debut EP titled “Don’t Look It In The Eye” ready to be released into the wild on 4th April and a long national tour to play. I hope this is the beginning of a long career for the girls, we really need more politically minded female musicians out there gigging, singing and making general mischief.
Picture of the band by Lily Doidge
“Singer of the Band” stands at 2 minutes and 32 seconds but it kicks like an angry mule. The kicking comes not from heaviness of music, as the song falls into post punk, indie punk category, its strength lies in a sarcastic lyrics, cleverly composed sections and infectious radio friendliness. There is a lot going on in a short period of time – it’s a controlled chaos with thumping bass, swinging melody, half spoken vocals, keyboards, sax and pop infused, slightly mad drumming. It’s a true (political and social) party song I genuinely haven’t heard since the 80’s. I dare you, play it at some house warming party and you will have all your guests dancing like it’s 1984. It’s up there with “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cindi Lauper, “Venus” by Bananarama and “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.
Before penning this review, I researched what other journalists thought of the track. Female writers presented an unequivocally united front: praising the song for its openness, bravery, humour and highlighting the misogyny and toxicity of music business.Male reviewers and social media commentators (let them remain nameless) were either anemically positive (“the band is good live”, “their theatre rock look is definitely something new”) or very critical, calling Twat Union ridiculous, over ambitious and even fake. One wondered if they were industry plants. Some comments were so vulgar or inflammatory I can’t even quote them here, many were highly sexist, clearly agreeing that women can’t play or compose music. One comment really struck me: the author (middle aged white guy) questioned the lived experiences of female musicians, saying that they are attention seeking and prone to exaggeration.
So I ran a little experiment of my own: I tested “Singer Of the Band” on many of my female friends, some are independent musicians, but the majority is not involved in the music business and listens to music only occasionally. All of them immediately recognized what the song was about and confirmed that such discrimination is commonplace, not only in music but literally in every aspect of their lives.
Band close up by by Lily Doidge
The moral of this all is this: guys think themselves experts in everything while women don’t know shit. And if a woman speaks out, she is met with hostility online and in real life.
The belief that men are superior to women (male chauvinism) is not new, it’s been in use since the Victorian times, but it entered mainstream language after the second world war. It is closely linked to patriarchy, supremacy (especially white supremacy), blind nationalism, exceptionalism, androcentrism (placing a masculine point of view at the center of one’s world view, culture, and history), toxic masculinity and capitalism. In 2017, a pan European survey found that 1 out of 5 men thought that women are less intelligent and inferior to men. By 2020, the United Nations Development Programme found that misogyny became so widespread that 90% of men and women globally, were biased against women.
I’m very glad that “Singer Of The Band” tackles this very serious issue with humour. I burst out laughing at the “long lost cousin of Frank Zappa” part. Since we started writing about music in 2016, I have met people like that in venues, PR, among bands or gig goers. My knowledge about music or journalism has been questioned by guys at every step. The misogyny is not just at the bottom level, it is displayed by guys everywhere. Let me tell you about a certain man who is the head of a national music charity. Few years ago he blocked me on Facebook after I said I knew a lot about The Beatles. I do know a lot as my dad is a big Beatles fan, I’m also on a spectrum that results in strange obsessions about certain topics. I don’t joke or lie when I say I’m a walking and breathing music encyclopedia. But this dude thought I was boasting and needed to “put me” in my place.
Ladies, March is an international women’s heritage month as well. We have a great legacy: women make music, craft instruments, compose, play, write about music, lead labels, create successful PR campaigns and excel in every part of the music business. So don’t stop doing your thing and don’t stop calling out those who doubt you.
If a woman is a lead singer of the band, it doesn’t mean that she can’t do other things. It means she chose to be the lead singer of the band. Her life, her choice. And if you have any unsolicited opinions about other people’s life choices – fuck off.
Twat Union online:
https://twatunion.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/tw4tunion
https://www.instagram.com/twatunion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh3PldRcl-I
www.tiktok.com/tw@tunion
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3RVCxAStfnRaEarLHxo9En
https://soundcloud.com/twatunion
https://twatunion.bandcamp.com/
Further read:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/15/one-to-watch-twat-union-dont-look-it-in-the-eye
https://www.abadgeoffriendship.com/twat-union
https://www.scenemusicmedia.com/news/twat-union-dont-look-it-in-the-eye
Rita Dabrowicz
Indieterria 