Morning Brief: LA’s New Punk Queens, Wineries’ Struggles, And CicLAvia’s Expertise

Good morning, L.A. It’s May 24.

In case you aren’t one of the nearly four million people who have viewed the video on Instagram, L.A.’s new punk rock queens — The Linda Lindas — rocketed to the next level of fame after the performance of their original song, “Racist, Sexist Boy,” went viral.

A few unusual facts about the band: Their players range in age from 10 to 16, and the video that launched them into the limelight was shot at the L.A. Public Library’s Cypress Park branch, with an audience made up primarily of a handful of librarians.

The band — a half Asian/half Latinx group featuring "two sisters, a cousin and their close friend," according to their Bandcamp profile — was opening the library’s AAPI Heritage Month celebration when the recording was made. The 10-year-old drummer Mila, explains in the video that the song was inspired by an interaction she had at school.

"A little while before we went into lockdown, a boy came up to me in my class and said that his dad told him to stay away from Chinese people," she said. "After I told him that I was Chinese, he backed away from me. Eloise and I wrote this song based on that experience."

The young band’s fans so far include Kathleen Hanna, Flea, and Alice Bag. Singer-songwriter Hayley Williams, lead singer of the rock band Paramore, tweeted that the Linda Lindas have been “one of my fav new punk bands since about the time they came out of the womb.”

Since their LAPL performance, The Linda Lindas have signed with the legendary punk label Epitaph Records.

Keep reading for more on what’s happening in L.A., and have fun out there.

What Else You Need To Know Today

• Police arrested 30-year-old Xavier Pabon, one of the suspects in connection with an attack last week on several Jewish men at an L.A. restaurant..
• Six incidents of vehicles being hit by pellet gun shots were reported on Orange County freeways Friday, bringing the total number of shootings over the past month to about 60.
• California is heading into another record dry year, and drought conditions are posing particular complications for wine country.
• Reopening waterparks in the wake of the pandemic is posing its own set of unique challenges.
• Say goodbye to downtown’s Skyslide.

Before You Go ... CicLAvia Brings Its Expertise To Outdoor Dining

CicLAvia South L.A. in Dec. 2014 (Photo by K W via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)

Prior to the pandemic, the local nonprofit CicLAvia was best known for organizing massive family-friendly bike rides on car-free streets around L.A.

Now, the organization is teaming up with the city of L.A. to help make the al fresco dining program that was launched during the pandemic more accessible to restaurants in the hardest-hit areas of the city.