Photo by Garett Botsch
Kid Sistr dropped their first singles in the infamous year of 2020, a time that would have been disastrous timing for most new bands. Instead, their self-titled EP, which was largely written in college, ended up becoming quite successful-with one of their singles, “Dallas” racking up more than three million streams.
“When I picture that, I picture joints, I picture Becca’s basement, spirited away, I picture anime, and I picture crying over hate comments on TikTok.” says guitarist Sabel Englert.
Kid Sistr is the power trio of Sabel Englert (vocals and guitar), Sara Keden (bass), and Becca Webster (drums). The band originally formed in 2017, but asking how they met doesn’t get you a clean answer, depending on who is speaking. The band was either born in a barn through immaculate conception, assembled from a “will drum for Baja Blast” roadside encounter or brought together through Connecticut’s School of Rock program.
The name itself is surprisingly heartfelt. Sara and Sabel wrote an early track called “Little Sister Song” paying homage to their younger, kid sisters (!!) Piper and Mary.
“We all very much hold the older sister position in our hearts” explains Sabel. “We write songs as the older sister, for our spiritual little sisters”.
It has been nearly six years since the release of their debut EP, with singles such as “Books” and “Palutations” bridging the gap between projects. Their latest release, American Teenage Prophecy, finds the trio at their most confident and fully realized, both musically and visually. Rather than signaling a dramatic shift in sound, the EP sharpens and matures the band’s original ethos. Featuring tracks like “Maniac,” “Shitshow,” and “Boys in Skirts,” the project brings to life songs the band had been holding onto for years, finally able to execute them in the way they had always envisioned.
This growth is the result of years spent refining their sound, with a particular focus on performing live together and growing both individually and as a unit. A key part of that process was working with Grammy-nominated producer Susie Shin, affectionately referred to by the band as “Jesus.” Shin encouraged them to stop hiding behind layers of irony and outside expectations, pushing them instead to embrace vulnerability and trust their instincts as a band.
“She has this great radar for bullshit,” says Sara. One example comes from the track Shit Show which was originally a fake breakup song inspired by a recent rewatch of legally blonde.
“She was like, what is true? Can you write something true? And we were like, mental illness is true, so that’s what that song ended up being about”.
The potent visuals of American Teenage Prophecy can be credited to stoner comedies, early 2000s aesthetics and Blink 182–humor is also central to the band’s philosophy. These inspirations however, have really only been represented by men. “All of these guys can be disgusting and weird,” Sara explains “There’s like eight million stoner comedies, there’s probably, what, three girl stoner comedies?”.
This freedom has become increasingly important to the band on a personal level, as Kid Sistr has built a lot of their audience through Tiktok, coming hand in hand with criticism and misogyny (obviously). Years of posting online have given them a front row seat to the ways queer women in music are treated differently. “I think they are listening with their eyes,” says drummer Becca Ramos, describing the assumptions made about the band, before even engaging in the music itself. Kaden puts it more bluntly “I am tired of people not acknowledging that misogyny is the water that we swim in”.
American Teenage Prophecy is nostalgic without being derivative, a feat easier said than done. In a time where artists constantly lean on nostalgia to recycle old themes, this project does not feel tired, but fresh and completely authentic. It contains all the elements Kid Sistr set out to create in their college dorm room years ago: shimmering guitars, cathartic sing-along choruses, and a healthy dose of chaos. Yet the EP feels distinctly grown-up, delivering a polished-but-unpolished reflection on queer experience, mental health, and the messy freedom of being young.
American Teenage Prophecy is out on all streaming platforms now!
