Cherry-Picked

Perfectly girl power-y, energetic, just barely left-of-center, relatable, and delicious – Girl Group’s fivesome victoriously re-emerged in early March to provide a musical “third place” for girls everywhere, with a flip of the bird to unrealistic expectations and a warm embrace of girlhood at its most honest and pure. Girl Group toes the line of self-aware frustration with the patriarchy (and their people-pleasing complicity in it) and the complete rejection of pretending to have anything figured out, all the while having a darn good time under a disco ball. 

Though their name isn’t the most SEO-friendly (try searching “Girl Group,” then “UK Girl Group,” only to be met with the Spice Girls, twice), I learned up on the Girlies from Tara Hepburn at The Line of Best Fit, who wrote about their March 2025 single, “Yay! Saturday.” Inspired by their lived experience as freshmen (sorry, “freshers”) at Liverpool School of Performing Arts, the girls (Lil, Mia, Thea, Maria, and Katya) bonded over being repeatedly boxed out of studio time by the ever-present “boys club,” even at art school (to my surprise and chagrin). Their first single, “Life is Dumb,” was released in 2023, and they’ve refined their style over four subsequent single releases. Their music is deeply collaborative, and their talent deeply impressive – all members sing and write – so their output listens like pretty, sticky mixed-media collages of each girl’s unique lyrical, vocal, and production craft. 

Their most-streamed thus far, “Your Fantasy,” exactly as it sounds, presents a male gaze-friendly slumber party, satirizing the way men might dream of girls in tiny pajamas throwing a fluffy pillow party, with feathers flying and girls squealing. This one is the most upbeat of their currently released five songs, but still manages to wink at the silliness of the frilly, sexy scene. Most girls can confidently say that no slumber party they’ve attended has ever looked this way. 

My personal favorite, the aforementioned “Yay! Saturday,” flies in the face of the freshly-Gua Sha-ed, dewy-cheeked, Alo-wearing internet “clean girl,” embracing more than a few hairs out of place on a weekend bender with your very best friends. In proper “brat summer” fashion, the music video follows the Group on their way to, inside, and from the bar (pub? forgive). The video descends into its own drunken stupor, getting blurrier as the night progresses, with flashes of sequins, minor chords, and edgy guitar meeting playfully cheeky and frivolous lyricism. In it, they sing, “any lessons learnt won’t fit in my tiny purse,” the recipe for a gorgeous, messy, taking-more-than-you’re-giving type of night out. Nights like these, riddled with overconsumption and devoid of discernment, can be something of an antidote to the constant pressure many women feel to perform, to always be kind, generous, and self-effacing. Or, perhaps, this one’s just fun… but I love how Girl Group never fails to say something more if you’re willing to hear it.  

April’s “Flink Pike,” Norwegian for “Good Girl,” pokes plucky fun at Stage Four feminine people-pleasery, at tirelessly trying to be everything to everyone all the time. With “achy cheeks” from forced smiles, Girl Group notes their (our, women’s) penchant for toxic positivity and relentless optimism (“I’ll make lemonade out of anything”). The song crescendos in a frantic spiral of contradictory expectations: to be selfless, but self-aware; a fun party girl, but God forbid late to hot yoga early the next morning! A muted scream cries out beneath the melody before the song abruptly ends, leaving you to sit with all that stirred-up, manic panic. The music video is even more brilliant, portraying the grown up members of Girl Group auditioning to be judged by young girls with cute, fluffy pens – all their desperate pirouetting begs the question, “do we like who we’ve become?”

Girl Group’s EP, housing these three songs and three new ones, “Think They’re Looking, Let’s Perform,” comes out this Friday, June 20 (eek!) and derives its title from a cheeky line in “Yay! Saturday.” I have a hunch they’re primed for a very big break, meeting girlie pops like me exactly where we want to be met. To later nights, shorter skirts, and more studio time!