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When asked about the most punk gesture she's ever done, Cathy Loughead answers without pause: “I performed with my neck fractured in two spots. Not able to move freely, so I embellished the brace instead. That was an amazing performance.”

Cathy is a member of a growing wave of women reinventing punk expression. Although a new television drama focusing on female punk premieres this Sunday, it echoes a phenomenon already blossoming well beyond the television.

The Spark in Leicester

This momentum is felt most strongly in Leicester, where a recent initiative – currently known as the Riotous Collective – sparked the movement. She joined in from the beginning.

“When we started, there existed zero all-women garage punk bands here. Within a year, there we had seven. Currently, twenty exist – and growing,” she remarked. “Riotous chapters exist across the UK and internationally, from Finland to Australia, recording, playing shows, featured in festival lineups.”

This boom isn't limited to Leicester. Throughout Britain, women are repossessing punk – and transforming the scene of live music along the way.

Revitalizing Music Venues

“Numerous music spots across the UK flourishing due to women punk bands,” she added. “The same goes for practice spaces, music instruction and mentoring, recording facilities. This is because women are occupying these positions now.”

Additionally, they are altering who shows up. “Bands led by women are gigging regularly. They're bringing in broader crowd mixes – people who view these spaces as protected, as intended for them,” she continued.

An Uprising-Inspired Wave

A program director, involved in music education, commented that the surge was predictable. “Females have been promised a ideal of fairness. However, violence against women is at alarming rates, radical factions are exploiting females to spread intolerance, and we're deceived over topics such as menopause. Ladies are resisting – through music.”

A music venue advocate, from the Music Venue Trust, notes the phenomenon altering community music environments. “We're seeing more diverse punk scenes and they're integrating with local music ecosystems, with grassroots venues programming varied acts and building safer, more inviting environments.”

Gaining Wider Recognition

Later this month, Leicester will host the first Riot Fest, a multi-day celebration including 25 women-led acts from the UK and Europe. In September, a London festival in London celebrated ethnic minority punk musicians.

And the scene is gaining mainstream traction. The Nova Twins are on their debut nationwide tour. The Lambrini Girls's first record, Who Let the Dogs Out, reached number sixteen in the UK charts recently.

Panic Shack were nominated for the 2025 Welsh Music Prize. A Northern Irish group won the Northern Ireland Music Prize in 2024. A band from Hull Wench played the BBC Introducing stage at Reading Festival.

This represents a trend originating from defiance. Within a sector still plagued by misogyny – where female-only bands remain lacking presence and live venues are closing at crisis levels – female punk bands are creating something radical: a platform.

Ageless Rebellion

At 79, one participant is proof that punk has no expiration date. The Oxford-based washboard player in horMones punk band began performing only twelve months back.

“Now I'm old, all constraints are gone and I can do what I like,” she declared. One of her recent songs contains the lines: “So scream, ‘Who cares’/ This is my moment!/ I own the stage!/ I am seventy-nine / And in my fucking prime.”

“I adore this wave of older female punks,” she said. “I couldn't resist during my early years, so I'm doing it now. It's great.”

A band member from the band also said she hadn't been allowed to rebel as a teenager. “It's been important to finally express myself at this late stage.”

A performer, who has performed worldwide with various bands, also considers it a release. “It's a way to vent irritation: going unnoticed as a parent, as an older woman.”

The Liberation of Performance

Similar feelings motivated Dina Gajjar to form Burnt Sugar. “Performing live is a release you never realized you required. Females are instructed to be acquiescent. Punk defies this. It's noisy, it's flawed. It means, during difficult times, I consider: ‘I can compose a track about it!’”

But Abi Masih, drummer for the Flea Bagz, stated the female punk is all women: “We are typical, working, brilliant women who enjoy subverting stereotypes,” she explained.

Another voice, of the Folkestone band She-Bite, shared the sentiment. “Ladies pioneered punk. We had to smash things up to get noticed. This persists today! That badassery is within us – it appears primal, instinctive. We are amazing!” she declared.

Challenging Expectations

Some acts conform to expectations. Julie Ames and Jackie O'Malley, involved in a band, aim to surprise audiences.

“We avoid discussing age-related topics or swear much,” noted Julie. The other interjected: “Well, we do have a bit of a 'raah' moment in all our music.” Ames laughed: “Correct. But we like to keep it interesting. Our most recent song was regarding bra discomfort.”