Raw music and charged emotions rise together on The Bots’ impassioned single “Girl Problems,” a dynamic song about soldiering on through the pains and pressures many young women experience.
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Stream: “Girl Problems” – The Bots
Energizing and effervescent, The Bots’ stellar brand of indie rock is hard to put into a box, but easy to love. The LA band’s return this summer has come in the form of rollicking guitar grooves, radiant dynamic changes, soaring vocal melodies, and catchy hooks – the ingredients to a soundtrack that can lift our spirits, inspire us onward, and brighten any day. Raw music and charged emotions rise together on the band’s second single “Girl Problems,” a dynamic song about soldiering on through the pains and pressures many young women experience. Explosive guitars, relatable imagery, and a sweet resounding message make for an instantly memorable outpouring we’ll come crawling back to time and again.
She thinks that nobody’s watching
guess what everyone’s talking
okay not like they noticed
thats just everyones focus
short skirt hair in ties
blank face to worried to be kind
okay no more of these junk
play it save don’t worry it’ll be fun
Come one give another twirl
finished up and now I’m waiting for ya
you’re not just another girl
and I swear it doesn’t feel right
doesn’t feel right!
Released July 7, 2021 via Big Indie Records, “Girl Problems” arrived earlier this summer as the second single off The Bots’ long-awaited sophomore album, 2 Seater (out September 8, 2021). Their first studio album in seven years finds frontman Mikaiah Lei working with Black Pumas’ Adrian Quesada to produce a fresh, fiery pop-forward rock sound that is at once driving and captivating.
“People would never refer to our band in the way I viewed it,” Lei shares of his band’s early days (their debut album Pink Palms released in October 2014). “We were always labeled as a ‘US punk band.’ I love punk music and I get why those references stuck for so long, especially because we started out trying to play as fast and as loud as we could, but we were a younger group who wanted to prove everyone wrong who thought kids couldn’t play rock. I love all genres of music and wanna continue to make pop music at its core, but I’m definitely interested in exploring many genres and styles of music.”
“Girl Problems” and The Bots’ other recent singles, “See It” and “Scatter Brains,” are decidedly not punk – but they are jam-packed with feverish energies and other hearty, beat-driven delights. “Girl Problems” comes to life with buoyant, surfy melodies that can’t help but put a smile on our faces, even as Mikaiah Lei sings of the struggles and drama that tend to (or at least, used to) start in high school, and last a lifetime:
Same place you flock like a feather
what’s that everyone’s better
to shy to say what you wanted
that’s cause everyone wants it
short coat baring thighs
complain but lately you seem fine
new waves and soft favs are all phase
touche just act like your okay
“‘Girl Problems’ was inspired by the stories I’d hear from my girl friends growing up,” Lei explains. “It’s basically the story of Mean Girls, problems young women go through, catty behavior, talking behind one another’s back etc. Its all surface reality stuff, but it’s something everyone experiences or can relate too.”
Lei explodes into a chorus full of spirited passion and resilient fortitude:
Come one give another twirl
finished up and now I’m waiting for ya
you’re not just another girl
and I swear it doesn’t feel right
doesn’t feel right!
The Bots’ “Girl Problems” music video expands the song’s scope, with director Ted Newsome and actress Isabel Hainer adding perspective and nuance to the story: “’Girl Problems’ is about finding yourself as a young woman under the influence of others,” Lei explains. “We wanted this video to capture the elements of societal pressures and unrealistic standards that everyone faces; Isabel Hainer brought that to life perfectly.”
Feel it in your heartbeat
feel it in your soul
ever sit and wonder
how to get along
Whether you’re coming for the evergreen story of pressures and expectations, or the invigorating indie rock riffs and hooks, The Bots are serving up something special. “Girl Problems” is a song we can all get behind as we await the band’s forthcoming LP. Stream the song below, and stay tuned for more from Mikaiah Lei in the very near future: 2 Seater is out September 8, 2021!
She dreams that nobody’s out there
two things to change how they all hear
feel free to leave when you want it
it seems nobody wants it
wheres that garish guy
from pain but worried to be fine
whats that you found something better
I’ll wait and make you upset her
Is that what you said
are you one of them
Come one give another twirl
finished up and now I’m waiting for ya
you’re not just another girl
and I swear it doesn’t feel right
doesn’t feel right!
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Stream: “Girl Problems” – The Bots
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