April 30, 2025 |
Phoebe Lunny’s mind has long worked at 100 miles per hour, but only recently, she says, does it feel like the rest of the world has caught up with her. The singer and guitarist – who fronts punk duo Lambrini Girls with bassist Lilly Macieira – is both a force of nature and a tool of nurture. On the band’s debut LP Who Let the Dogs Out, she rattles through topics including sexism and gentrification with abandon, but unpacks each one with heart and empathy. The record is akin to a musical hand grenade, packed with fury and serrated riffs.
By being so attuned to their motivations and working to create a fairer playing field for fellow DIY grafters, Lunny and Macieira have staked their reputations on being one of the most emotionally transparent bands in modern British guitar music. An ethos of forthrightness has helped them to forge their own path, while their high-velocity songs stand out for how they meld flashes of garage pop with stream-of-consciousness lyricism.
Since they emerged with EP You’re Welcome in 2023, the band have climbed their way up festival bills, thrilling audiences at Glastonbury, Green Man and Reading and Leeds Festivals. Their impassioned live shows have seen them orchestrate inclusive, crowd-controlled mosh pits for younger fans and share tequila shots with those lining the barrier. On stage, Lunny and Macieira conjure a sense of resilient belonging, rendering pain and imperfection momentarily absent.
from left: Phoebe and Lilly wear FENDI; Lilly wears N0.21, Phoebe wears dress by HUISHAN ZHANG, shoes by SIMONE ROCHA
“We want to mobilise and make viewpoints more open to people who don’t really give a shit about what’s happening in the world around them,” says Lunny. “If you make one person question their views, then you’re doing your job, right? Seeing change happen, as well as watching people build their own communities at our shows, gives us a lot of fuel.”
We meet at record shop Rough Trade East in Brick Lane a few hours before the duo are due to perform an intimate gig there. Sitting in a narrow green back room, surrounded by peeling, washed-out band stickers and record paraphernalia, the pair ricochet off each other as they talk. Bedecked in a black satin slip dress and smudged red lipstick, Lunny often leads the charge, while a more low-key Macieira – who has donned one of her “beloved” Juicy Couture velour tracksuits – picks up the story whenever needed.
It was in the hallowed small venues of Brighton, shortly after the pandemic, where the life-altering friendship between Lunny and Macieira began to bloom. The former grew up in the seaside city, while the latter moved there after swapping Portugal for England in her teenage years. Before they met, both had played in a bevy of local bands, failing to strike the right creative rhythm each time. “I recognise a particular spiritual chaos in Phoebe, as I do in much of myself. Our foundations aligned immediately,” says Macieira.
from left: Lilly wears top by GUESS USA and skirt by GUESS, Phoebe wears GUESS USA
Fast forward a couple of years and you can see that shared anarchic spirit reflected in the vibrant artwork for Who Let the Dogs Out. The cover shot came to life at a Los Angeles Airbnb, where Lunny and Macieira invited a “group of chaotic characters” over to revel in all sorts of debauchery until the sun came up. In the image, you can see the band slumped over a tatty sofa, surrounded by couples kissing and play-fighting, party poppers and piñatas.
Earlier that evening, the band had opened for Aussie rockers Amyl and the Sniffers at the legendary Fonda Theatre, marking one of their biggest shows to date. “It was crazy playing this big gig and then rushing straight back to a party pad,” says Macieira. “The album cover shows the fun side of our music, and we needed that to be visually represented.”
from left: Phoebe and Lilly wear DOLCE & GABBANA; Lilly wears dress and shoes by MIU MIU, Phoebe wears MIU MIU
It’s an apt affirmation for a band who have endured their own traumas, from eating disorders to acute mental health issues, and use humour to tackle their fears. Album standout Nothing Tastes As Good As It Feels swipes at the toxicity of diet culture (it parodies the dubious and controversial mantra ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’), before the similarly seething No Homo attacks internalised homophobia head-on. For all the songs’ contagious fun, their genuine catharsis is unmissable – that much is impossible to misinterpret.
from left: Lilly and Phoebe wear ANDREAS KRONTHALER FOR VIVIENNE WESTWOOD; Phoebe and Lilly wear MOSCHINO
It’s on stage where the intertwined rage and joy that flows through the duo’s music becomes lucid. “If you make something engaging, catchy and funny, and then you make it exciting to listen to, then you’re packaging serious messages in a way that’s more accessible,” says Lunny. “It’s the same as grabbing someone by the shoulders and saying, ‘Wake up!’”
What keeps Macieira going, meanwhile, is her steadfast belief that she and Lunny are “making positive change” with their work. She describes how she lives with bipolar disorder and, as such, can often struggle with the pace and intensity of making a life for herself as a musician: from always having to be ‘on’ to managing fluctuating income.
A report from the NHS last year estimated that one in seven people in the UK are neurodivergent – an umbrella term for a range of diagnoses that includes, but isn’t limited to, autism, ADHD and dyslexia. This is something that Macieira wants to keep “shouting about”, she says, in hopes that how the music industry addresses these issues “will become far less unregulated”.
from left: Lilly wears corset and trousers by GIUSEPPE DI MORABITO, Phoebe wears GIUSEPPE DI MORABITO
She continues: “This is a job that demands so much extroversion and there isn’t enough support for artists who struggle with that. You have to be talkative when it’s demanded of you. We want to keep raising awareness that it can lead to addiction and burnout.”
This year, Lambrini Girls will continue to tour furiously, with a planned run that’s meant to eat up most of the spring, with dates criss-crossing Europe and the US. They already have plans in place to cope with their intensive schedule by reading fantasy books and doing some crafting on the road. But despite all the pressure that comes from being in a newly successful band, Lunny and Macieira are also going to make sure to focus on what they do best: rolling with the punches, making each other laugh and shouting their message from the rooftops.
Taken from 10 Magazine Issue 74 – MUSIC, TALENT, CREATIVE – on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
BODY SHOP
Photographer ROXY LEE
Fashion Editor TARA ST HILL
Talents LAMBRINI GIRLS
Text SOPHIE WILLIAMS
Hair TOMMY STAYTON using DAVINES
Make-up GEORGIA HOPE using NARS Cosmetics
Fashion assistants FREYA GOODCHILD-BRIDGE and ISABELLA MAGEE
Production CLAIRE MURPHY and SONYA MAZURYK
Special thanks to AMY AZARINEJAD
Jewellery throughout talent’s own, stockings throughout by FALKE
