Valley Girl is the latest addition to the hardcore scene, formed by The Neighbourhood’s vocalist, Jesse Rutherford. They posted their four-track demo on YouTube without revealing their identity, only giving credits to the demo’s producer and the drummer. The first performance from Valley Girl was at Midnight Hour in San Fernando, California, opening for six bands on January 27. It was then discovered that the band’s frontman was Jesse Rutherford.
The shock of realizing the “Daddy Issues” singer was in the band was expressed on social media. One user on Twitter said, “I love how everyone liked the Valley Girl release until they found out Jesse Rutherford was doing the vocals lmaooo.” Another user commented on the harmful criticism in the hardcore scene and said, “I think this is awesome having new folks like Jesse get in and make noise like we need more of this.”
Cosmic Joke was one of the six bands to perform alongside Valley Girl on January 27. In response to the harsh criticism on social media, the band’s frontman, Mac Miller (not to be confused with the late rapper), took to Twitter to defend Rutherford. Miller said Jesse’s been going to shows with him for 15 years and played it low key because he didn’t want to take attention away from anyone. Additionally, Miller claimed Valley Girl announced their gig anonymously, hoping people would only come out for the music, which supports every other act on the bill.
The Neighbourhood – including guitarists Jeremy Freedman and Zach Abels, bassist Mikey Margot, and vocalist Jesse Rutherford – cut ties with their drummer, Brandon Fried, back in 2022. The firing came after singer Maria Zardoya, of indie pop band The Marias, accused Fried of sexually assaulting her. Fried was officially booted from the band due to their policy of “zero-tolerance for any kind of inappropriate behavior towards women.
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