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If you inquire about the most punk act she's ever pulled off, Cathy Loughead answers without pause: “I played a show with my neck fractured in two spots. Unable to bounce, so I embellished the brace instead. That was an amazing performance.”

She is part of a rising wave of women reinventing punk music. Although a recent television drama highlighting female punk premieres this Sunday, it echoes a movement already blossoming well outside the television.

The Leicester Catalyst

This momentum is most intense in Leicester, where a 2022 project – presently named the Riotous Collective – sparked the movement. Loughead was there from the beginning.

“When we started, there were no all-women garage punk bands here. In just twelve months, there seven emerged. Now there are 20 – and increasing,” she remarked. “Riotous chapters exist across the UK and internationally, from Finland to Australia, recording, gigging, appearing at festivals.”

This surge extends beyond Leicester. Throughout Britain, women are taking back punk – and changing the scene of live music along the way.

Rejuvenating Performance Spaces

“Numerous music spots across the UK flourishing due to women punk bands,” noted Cathy. “The same goes for practice spaces, music instruction and mentoring, studio environments. The reason is women are filling these jobs now.”

Additionally, they are altering the audience composition. “Female-fronted groups are gigging regularly. They're bringing in broader crowd mixes – attendees who consider these spaces as safe, as for them,” she added.

A Movement Born of Protest

Carol Reid, programme director at Youth Music, commented that the surge was predictable. “Females have been promised a vision of parity. However, violence against women is at alarming rates, radical factions are using women to spread intolerance, and we're gaslit over issues like the menopause. Women are fighting back – through music.”

Toni Coe-Brooker, from the Music Venue Trust, sees the movement reshaping community music environments. “There is a noticeable increase in varied punk movements and they're contributing to community music networks, with local spots scheduling diverse lineups and creating more secure, friendlier places.”

Entering the Mainstream

Later this month, Leicester will stage the first Riot Fest, a three-day event including 25 all-women bands from the UK and Europe. In September, a London festival in London showcased punks of colour.

And the scene is entering popular culture. The Nova Twins are on their first headline UK tour. Another rising group's debut album, Who Let the Dogs Out, hit No. 16 in the UK charts this year.

One group were nominated for the 2025 Welsh Music Prize. Problem Patterns earned a local honor in recently. Recent artists Wench performed at a notable festival at Reading Festival.

It's a movement originating from defiance. Across a field still plagued by sexism – where female-only bands remain lacking presence and music spots are shutting down rapidly – female punk artists are establishing something bold: space.

Ageless Rebellion

Now 79 years old, Viv Peto is evidence that punk has no expiration date. From Oxford musician in a punk group picked up her instrument just a year ago.

“As an older person, all constraints are gone and I can pursue my interests,” she declared. A track she recently wrote contains the lines: “So yell, ‘Fuck it’/ This is my moment!/ This platform is for me!/ At seventy-nine / And at my absolute best.”

“I love this surge of senior women punks,” she commented. “I wasn't allowed to protest in my youth, so I'm doing it now. It's wonderful.”

Another musician from the band also mentioned she was prevented to rebel as a teenager. “It has been significant to be able to let it all out at my current age.”

Chrissie Riedhofer, who has toured globally with multiple groups, also considers it a release. “It's about exorcising frustration: being invisible in motherhood, as a senior female.”

The Liberation of Performance

Comparable emotions motivated Dina Gajjar to form Burnt Sugar. “Being on stage is an outlet you never realized you required. Women are trained to be compliant. Punk isn't. It's loud, it's raw. It means, when negative events occur, I say to myself: ‘I'll write a song about that!’”

But Abi Masih, a percussionist, remarked the punk lady is every woman: “We are simply regular, career-oriented, amazing ladies who enjoy subverting stereotypes,” she explained.

Another voice, of the act She-Bite, concurred. “Women were the original punks. We had to smash things up to gain attention. We still do! That rebellious spirit is part of us – it feels ancient, primal. We're a bloody marvel!” she declared.

Defying Stereotypes

Not all groups match the typical image. Julie Ames and Jackie O'Malley, part of The Misfit Sisters, strive to be unpredictable.

“We rarely mention the menopause or swear much,” said Ames. O'Malley cut in: “However, we feature a small rebellious part in all our music.” She smiled: “Correct. But we like to keep it interesting. Our most recent song was about how uncomfortable bras are.”