It’s accurate to say that 2025 has been a breakout and breakthrough year for sisters Kenzie and Laila, who perform as Girl Tones. The garage rock band was picked up by Brad Shultz of Cage the Elephant for his new label Parallel Vision, becoming the first group signed to this co-venture with Big Loud Rock. They’ve crafted new and revised old songs with Shultz and Jeremy Ferguson at Battle Tapes Recording in Nashville and they’ve been steadily dropping singles that will appear on their debut full length, due in 2026, like the grimy “Got It” and head-bopping “Blame.”
Meantime, Girl Tones have found themselves on massive stages opening for Cage the Elephant and another veteran indie band Silversun Pickups, who stopped through Nashville this summer. That’s when I got to catch up with the girls in-studio at WNXP.
After Girl Tones’ Lollapalooza set this summer, they’re also primed to play festivals including Shaky Knees in Atlanta and Austin City Limits. Big time.
But their story as siblings making music is traced to childhood in a Kentucky small town. And their origin as a guitar-and-drums rock duo goes back several years, too, when you might find them in small clubs and house shows in and around Bowling Green, Ky.
It was there, where brother-based band Cage the Elephant also got their start, that Shultz was encouraged to check out Girl Tones live. This was pre-pandemic, they told me, and when they got an Instagram follow from the band, they couldn’t believe it was real. The time since they first made contact with Shultz — though it required patience during COVID-19 disruptions — has been quite fruitful for Girl Tones, to say the least.
Check out this band On The Record with WNXP, released on the drop date of the newest Girl Tones song “Cherry Picker.” The conversation can be found here and on the WNXP Podcasts channel.