epk - press kit

My second album, I Don’t Need Your Permission, was released by my record label, Hygh Tension Records (TLG)/Virgin Music, on August 1, 2025! Reviews are flying in, and they’re wonderful!

In super thrilling news, I landed on the
COVER (!!!) of Making A Scene magazine!

A few review highlights for I Don’t Need Your Permission:

"{A] fearless, full-throttle collection that tears through self-doubt and smashes the pedestal of perfection that women are so often forced to stand on."

            - Apricot Magazine

"Mary Strand and her band deliver another epic rock jam that continues to build the hype for her highly anticipated second album."

            - Plastic Magazine

"[C]ombines the unrefined spirit of garage rock with the polish of pop and ache of raw emotion, serving up gut-wrenching yet invigorating sonic and lyrical composition."

            - Music Mingle

ALSO: My first Christmas single, “I Wanna Believe,” released in November 2024 (thanks to my record label!), and I’ve now written (and/or co-written) songs for a Christmas album for release in 2026. And check out my 2023 debut album, Golden Girl!

A few review highlights for Golden Girl:

“...just the right level of pop addiction is balanced with just enough rock swagger ... Throw in a touch of Americana and a few more funky vibes, and you have the sonic fingerprint for her debut album, Golden Girl ... [T]wo things are obvious. Firstly, this album explores the various aspects of love, loss, longing, and life itself. Secondly, Mary Strand has, even on her first long player, reserved herself a seat at the ‘ones to watch’ table.”

            - Dave Franklin, The Big Takeover

 “A variety of styles crop up ... the Lesley Gore assertions, the Dixie Cups, the Angels, the Crystals, Reparata & the Del-Rons ... with a potent dose of Shangri-Las’ Mary Weiss’ tough girl vocalese (‘Leader of the Pack’) ... it’s a welcome sound.”

- John Apice, Americana Highways

“…infectious and excellent first record."

  - Take Effect

* * * * *

I wrote many of the songs on both I Don’t Need Your Permission and Golden Girl as part of the Singer/Songwriter Songwriting Challenge on Facebook, but I’ve done all of this - songwriting, conceptualizing, recording, and producing - with major inspiration and help from Ryan Smith and Mark Wade. In fact, I co-wrote one song with each of them for my latest album.

I play electric guitar and sing lead vocals on all tracks. Ryan (Soul Asylum, UltraBomb, The Melismatics, Ryan And Pony) adds acoustic and (mostly) electric guitar, sitar, Linn drums, keyboard, and an insane number of other instruments, along with harmony vocals. Mark (The Melismatics, The Mood Swings) adds bass guitar, upright bass, and harmony vocals, but on “Ditch Your Fate,” which he and I co-wrote, Mark and Ryan switched: Mark plays electric guitar and Ryan plays bass. Last but not least, my son, Jack Strand (Outta Cuentro, Loondale), plays drums on all tracks.

The songs on my second album explore themes of empowerment, especially from a woman's perspective. They also feature different types of rock music, all of which I love, but we doubled down on punk and garage rock on this album. As we produced the tracks, some of our specific song influences included Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Ramones, The Strokes, Prince (gotta love Minnesota music!), Big Star, Vampire Weekend, and Badfinger. We also teased some Latino sounds, and my lyrics include some fun literary references. Because nobody puts Baby in a corner.