Beyond the boys’ club: Girl Group’s glitter-fuelled rebellion

With gender politics an ever-pervasive layer of contemporary discourse, the role of men and women is under scrutiny in every walk of life.

Still a leading cultural force, the music industry continues to both shape and reflect the ways we perform and perceive gendered roles, writes Music News Blitz’s Katie Slater. 

With women now representing 53.8% of the UK’s music industry workforce, female voices are an ever-growing presence in a previously male-dominated space. 

While this new figure is undeniably promising, deeper research reveals that it may not be all sunshine and daisies yet. 

Research from the 2024 Musicians’ Census found that 51% of women had experienced gendered discrimination during their careers - showing the industry to be more than a little hostile to its newcomers.

Introducing Girl Group

Showing we have more than just statistics to beat in our pursuit for a more inclusive industry, there’s one artist rising up the ranks who isn’t shying away from such a challenge. 

Meet Girl Group - a five-piece all-female band based in Liverpool, bound by a desire to combat the persisting ‘boy’s club’ culture. 

With an ethos of fun-filled, DIY pop tunes, their music is irresistibly catchy. Don’t mistake this glitter-fuelled frenzy as a lack of depth, however. 

Showing the power of girliness in a world that so often undermines femininity, the group channel their message through a brat-pop flair.

A contemporary Trojan horse attack, Girl Group are unpicking the fibres of overarching patriarchal structures - and packaging it all up with a pretty-pink bow on top.

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Her-made 

A massive part of the pop group’s defiance speaks through their existence alone. 

Prioritising female creatives in all aspects of their work, the girls are not tokenising this female-fronted spotlight but ensuring all layers of their work are women-led from production to photography. 

With statistics suggesting that 79% of women in the industry are in performing roles, yet they make up only 12% of studio engineers and 15% of sound engineers, the imbalance is clear.

Revealing a gaping hole in song creating processes, the band points out that very little music in the industry has escaped male influence. 

Through writing and producing all their own tracks, and prioritising female involvement in all other aspects, Girl Group are consciously switching the narrative.

Flink Pike and the anti-perfect 

Moving towards the musical and aesthetic aspects of the project, Girl Group perform a subversion of the expected functions of both women and girl bands.

With their name evoking glitzy pop machines with endless choreography and coordinated outfits, enough is said about the limited spaces all-female bands are expected to occupy. 

Pushing to the forefront with a much angrier, messier and nuanced take on performance, the five members dismantle the pressures of a ‘perfect woman’. 

Tackling this in their lyricism, the lead track, “Flink Pike,” dives into the dual pressures of womanhood with unrelenting wit and withering sarcasm. 

Named after the Norwegian phrase meaning ‘good girl,’ the expression became a label for a mental health crisis sweeping the country several years ago. 

During this time, young women faced rising rates of depression - attributed to growing societal pressures to perform professionally, emotionally, and physically.

With striking lyricism describing the unpeeling of ‘freshly facialed skin’ and astute comments on the pressure to switch seamlessly between political educator and chill party girl, the track acts as perhaps the catchiest addition to gender inequality discourse in a long while.

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Man-made girl bands 

Stemming from a range of solo projects, the girls were not so much joined by influence as but a unified political passion. 

Citing artists such as Lily Allen, Chapelle Roan and Sabrina Carpenter as role models, the girls are united in their appreciation for women who are not afraid to be a little bit different. 

Whether this be through crude lyricism, or strong aesthetics, inspiration lies in women who have been successful not in spite of, but because of their transgressions. 

Again, directly addressing this in one of their songs, “man-made girl bands”, the lyrics delve into the policing of girl bands who step outside the mould.  

With lines such as ‘you could have just stuck to the keyboard thing you - you would have been much less offensive then’, and ‘we’re going to take that makeup mountain off’ standing out, the girls highlight the gendered criticism that tends to target women who dare to do something a little less traditionally feminine. 

Conclusion

A wonderfully-defiant yet musically accessible project, Girl Group are not a band to be underestimated. 

In not just an industry, but an entire country in need of new role models and visions, the five-piece's social commentary is worming its way in through some of the catchiest melodies around. 

Fiercely fun, and unapologetically girly, the band are climbing their way to the top in a neatly choreographed dance, and what a pleasure it is to watch.

In an industry still unlearning its old boys’ club habits, Girl Group are proving that femininity can be both fun and radical.

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