With International Women’s Day almost upon us, London-based feminist punks YAKKIE are offering their call-to-strike anthem ‘Lean Out’ as “Pay What You Want” on Bandcamp. All money raised will be donated to striking teaching assistants at Richard Cobden school in North London, who are fighting for their jobs – and also fighting for the children at their school to receive the support that they need.
The rousing track is a tribute to the late socialist feminist Dawn Foster and the global women’s strike. Vocalist Janey Starling says “‘Lean Out’ is a call for all women to go on strike to demand better conditions at work and in their lives. It’s women’s care and nurture that keeps the wheels of society turning, but that’s not recognised or paid. Teaching assistants play a vital role in supporting children at school – they have a right to job security and good pay.
This is a song about flipping tables instead of sitting at them. We wrote this song when we realised that the ‘theme’ for International Women’s Day is determined every year by a private consultancy. The origins of International Women’s Day are in women’s struggle for labour rights after a factory fire in 1911 in New York killed over a hundred women and girls, but capitalism and the cult of the individual have tried to steal our feminist history and our power from us. It’s time to wrest it back by going on strike.”
‘Lean Out’ features on YAKKIE’s debut album ‘Kill The Cop Inside Your Head’, which was recently self released by the band to critical acclaim. The entire album was recorded on reel-to-reel tape in a mere four days – nothing digital was used in the recording process. Every track was recorded live in one take, with the result being a raw and real rollercoaster of powerful takedowns, motivational chants, soft emotive moments and feminist fury.
The band began as a political outlet for Starling, KERRANG! award winner and founding frontwoman of Dream Nails, who took a break from making music to focus on full-time anti-prisons activism and is now back on the mic with a vengeance. She enlisted Robin Gatt, the iconoclast behind Personal Best and bassist of Petrol Girls, to propel her lyrics in Smashing Pumpkins-style shredding and downtuned Helmet-style riffage. Laura Ankles of Colour Me Wednesday and Maeve Westall of Jasmine.4.T and Itoldyouiwouldeatyou drive the hulking rhythm section, filling out every frequency left to produce a scorching wall of sound.
YAKKIE have just dominated stages across the UK on tour with Dead Pioneers and you’ll be able to catch their life-affirming, supremely-motivating set on 21 March at The Victoria in London, The Great Escape in Brighton in May and at Bulletproof Festival in June.
YAKKIE ARE:
Janey Starling (she/her) – vocals
Maeve Westall (she/her) – drums
Robin Gatt (they/them) – guitar, vocals
Laura Ankles (she/her) – bass, vocals
SEE YAKKIE LIVE
21 March – The Victoria, London
16 May – The Great Escape, Brighton
04 June – Bulletproof Festival, London
CONNECT WITH YAKKIE on Instagram
