Tramp Stamps (Band)

About

Tramp Stamps are a Nashville-based rock band blending Riot Grrl aesthetics with pop-punk songs about topics such as disappointing sex and irreverent misandry. In the spring of 2021, the group was criticized on social media for allegedly being an industry plant, working with notoriously problematic producer Dr. Luke, faking the Riot Grrl persona, and having lyrics implying initiating non-consensual sex.

History

On July 2nd, 2020, Marisa Maino, lead singer of Tramp Stamps, signed to Prescription Songs, a label owned by producer Dr. Luke,^[4] who is infamous for allegedly abusing artists such as Kesha. The group's guitarist, Caroline Baker, is also signed to Prescription Songs.^[6] Tramp Stamps launched their social media accounts^[1][2] at various points in 2020, building an online presence before releasing their first song, "Sex With Me," on January 27th, 2021.

On March 3rd, 2021, the group released "1-800-miss-ur-guts" (shown below, left). On April 14th, they released the music video for "I'd Rather Die," which would increase the negative attention towards the band on social media (shown below, right). All the songs are off an upcoming EP titled WE GOT DRUNK AND MADE AN EP, set to release May 26th, 2021.^[3]

Reputation

After a teaser for "I'd Rather Die" was released on TikTok on April 10th, 2021,^[5] users there started to criticize the group for being a suspected industry plant. The audio for the group's teaser video was deleted as too many users were mocking it. TikTok user @furbyrights posted a video criticizing their aesthetic and lyrics and called them an "industry plant," gaining over 257,000 likes (shown below, left). The video highlighted how the second verse of "I'd Rather Die" seems to imply the singer is disappointed in a straight man for being too drunk to have sex. User @katyloser went through their Instagram pages and discovered how they all had deals with Spotify before announcing the band, gaining over 23,000 likes (shown below, right). Viewers also noted that the drummer appears to be married to a cis-white man, which would contradict the band's lyric on "I'd Rather Die," "I'd rather die than hook up with another straight white guy."^[8]

On Twitter, a self-professed Tramp Stamps stan account, @trampstampsfan, has been suspected of being an alt account the members use due to a screenshot where the account says "we are currently located in Tennessee" (shown below, left). The account has argued the screenshot was doctored.^[7] The account has also attempted to spread positivity about the band by photoshopping them into a photograph of the Stonewall Riots.^[8]

Search Interest

External References