Garage Rock Still Has Something to Say

There are gigs you go to because you already know the band.

And then there are those where you simply walk in because you want to see what happens.

On July 24th, I was at The 100 Club in London, one of those places that really needs no introduction. A small piece of rock history tucked away on Oxford Street, carrying decades of gigs, sweat, guitars and amplifiers on its shoulders.

That night, Mimi and the Miseries were on stage.

And after seeing them live, choosing them as Rockin’ Peace’s Emerging Band of the Month for September felt pretty natural.

Because these four girls from Bristol have something that has never gone out of fashion in rock’n’roll:

they know how to have fun while making a hell of a racket.

Four girls, one amplifier and plenty of rock’n’roll

Mimi and the Miseries are a British garage rock band with their roots firmly planted in the Sixties, rhythm & blues and rock’n’roll, with a healthy dose of punk attitude thrown into the mix.

But this isn’t simply a nostalgia trip.

It doesn’t sound like four musicians trying to recreate an old record.

It sounds more like they found that record, plugged it into an amplifier and decided to see what would happen if they gave it a good shake.

The band revolves around Mimi, alongside Mona Misery, Myna Misery and Mickey Misery. The story began during the second lockdown, when Mimi started playing with the band’s original drummer, Monday. A video of one of their jam sessions was posted online, attracted attention and soon led to opportunities to play live.

What had started almost by accident was becoming a real band.

Although, thankfully, without taking itself too seriously.

Bristol, the Sixties and a very punk attitude

If there’s one word that keeps coming up when talking about Mimi and the Miseries, it’s garage.

But there’s plenty more going on.

There are the melodies of Sixties girl groups, organ, soul, rhythm & blues and that distinctly British way of playing rock’n’roll.

And then there’s punk.

Not necessarily the full-speed-ahead, three-chords-and-done version, but the spirit that simply says:

Let’s do it and see what happens.

It’s a combination that works particularly well live.

And perhaps that’s one of the most appealing things about the Miseries.

They don’t seem to feel the need to prove anything to anyone.

The first EP

In March 2022 came their first release: the self-titled Mimi and the Miseries EP.

Four songs:

Movin’ Out

Stop Following Me ’Round

Security

Party!

Just over ten minutes of music is enough to understand exactly where the wind is blowing.

The EP was released digitally and later also as a limited 7-inch vinyl through Outro Records.

And already here, the band’s musical identity is pretty clear.

Movin’ Out is a cover of a 1964 song by The Teemates, while Security comes from the Otis Redding repertoire. In between are the originals Stop Following Me ’Round and Party!.

Four tracks.

Two covers.

Two originals.

But above all, a very clear idea of what Mimi and the Miseries want to be.

Stop Following Me ’Round

One of the songs that helped put the band on the map is Stop Following Me ’Round.

The title already says quite a lot.

It’s a song about independence and rejecting unwanted male attention, with an attitude that fits perfectly with the band’s garage sound.

And no, this isn’t a song about waiting for Prince Charming.

Quite the opposite.

Prince Charming would probably be better off staying at home.

Treat Him Bad

After the first EP and the single Stop Following Me ’Round, the Miseries took another step forward.

In November 2025, their first full-length album arrived:

Treat Him Bad.

Ten tracks and roughly 28 minutes.

The album keeps the band’s original coordinates while giving them more room to explore their sound, from Don’t You Worry and J.O.M.O to Never Let You Down, Tomorrow’s Tears, Hurt Me, Shadow Side, Treat Him Bad, Dr. Vincent and Before Midnight.

You don’t need forty minutes of instrumental gymnastics to make a point.

The Miseries prefer to get straight to it.

And that’s probably one of the things I like most about the way they make music.

And then comes London

Back to July 24th.

The 100 Club.

For anyone who loves British rock, the name of the venue alone carries a certain weight.

But Mimi and the Miseries seem perfectly at home there.

Live, everything you hear on record takes on another dimension.

The guitars get dirtier, the drums push harder, the keyboards add that unmistakable Sixties flavour, and Mimi’s voice holds everything together.

And above all, there is energy.

The kind of energy you can’t put into a Spotify description.

The kind that happens when a band is playing right in front of you, just a few metres away, in a venue where the audience feels almost part of the stage.

And that’s when you realise that Mimi and the Miseries aren’t simply an interesting band to listen to.

They’re a band you need to see live.

Rock’n’roll isn’t dead. It still knows how to have fun.

One of the things I love about garage rock is precisely this.

It doesn’t claim to save the world.

It doesn’t need to invent a new genre every three weeks.

It takes what works: a riff, a melody, a driving drumbeat, an organ coming in at just the right moment, a voice with personality.

Then it turns the volume up.

Mimi and the Miseries do exactly that.

They’ve clearly looked at the past, but they don’t seem interested in living there.

And perhaps that’s the best way to keep a genre alive that, on paper, should have been dead and buried a long time ago.

Emerging Band of the Month: Mimi and the Miseries

If you’re into garage rock, beat, rhythm & blues, rock’n’roll and punk, Mimi and the Miseries are definitely worth checking out.

And if you’re one of those people who think rock has to be complicated, technical and packed with special effects…

Well, maybe these four girls from Bristol have a little lesson for you.

Sometimes all you need is four people, a few good songs and a stage.

The rest is volume.

Mimi and the Miseries are Rockin’ Peace’s Emerging Band of the Month for September.

And since, at some point, words have to make room for music…

Now it’s their turn.

Below you’ll find a video of Mimi and the Miseries live at The 100 Club in London on July 24th, 2026.

Turn it up.

And enjoy the Miseries.