niis

The world is no Utopia, it’s a Big Zoo, and NIIS is breaking the illusion with cacophonous sonance orchestrated by its four berserk conductors to show that hell is a zoo… and we are the animals.

NIIS—pronounced “Nice”—synthesizes the sounds of punk, hardcore, lo-fi garage, and early grunge to create an undefinable noise that is original and all their own. The four-piece outfit with members from Los Angeles and the Bay Area takes musical and lyrical influence from punk rock bands like Rudimentary Peni, Crass, and Subhumans. Mimi, the band’s fierce ringleader, uses her guttural screams to orally dissert capitalism and sociopolitical constructs. The band’s songs are reflections of Mimi’s lived experiences, like “Fuck You Boy,” a commentary on what it’s like to grow up in a male-dominated music scene permeated with misogyny and sexism.

NIIS introduced themselves with their debut 2020 EP “Not Niis” and solidified their force with their highly-acclaimed 2022 EP, “Must Be…” On stage, NIIS has joined the likes of old school punk acts like GBH, FEAR, and Adolescents, while also playing major festivals like L.A.’s Echo Park Rising, Austin’s SXSW, and Orange County’s Punk in the Park—the latter which included NIIS in a lineup amongst punk heavyweights like Pennywise, Circle Jerks, The Dickies, and many others.

NIIS is currently working on their first full-length album, which currently does not have a release date. In the meantime, the band is releasing a single and music video in early 2024 which kickstarts their next tour in February 2024. Expect the untamed chaos that NIIS unleashes again and again but prepare for an evolving sound that cannot be restrained by the confines of their punk influences.

No matter the maturation of their music, their core ideals will always remain authentic to the band’s punk ethos and beginnings. The band’s guitarist shares, “The powers that be want us to pit against each other, they don't want us to connect, well, it's actually more punk to not be pitted against each other, it’s more about community, connecting, and being good to each other.” In other words, be nice like NIIS.