On lawyer-turned-novelist-turned-songwriter Mary Strand’s 2023 debut album, Golden Girl, she explored several different musical rock eras and styles within an overall theme of love: new and old, for better and for worse, and above all: complicated.

Her second album, I Don’t Need Your Permission, which explores themes of empowerment, especially from a woman's perspective, released on August 1, 2025.

Mary’s music has been variously described as power pop, garage rock, punk, post-punk, and/or plain old indie rock. Although she thinks of her style as “just me,” and rarely has a particular band or sound in mind when she’s first writing a song, Mary is a huge fan of Joan Jett’s music, and she’s also been compared to the Pretenders, the Dollyrots, the La’s, the Go-Go’s, and many more bands, especially ones fronted by women.

Her mix of sounds is no accident. Mary simply loves rock and roll. All of it.

Multiple songs from both Golden Girl and I Don’t Need Your Permission have charted on indie radio stations around the world, and her song “Least of All Her” hit # 1 on Radio Indie Alliance’s worldwide indie charts. Mary’s music has also been praised by New York’s Big Takeover magazine and other national and international press. In 2025, Mary has performed at Front Row Paul Fest and at the Turf Club, the Hook & Ladder, and various other venues, primarily in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Mary usually plays her music in a four-piece Minneapolis band called Mary Strand & The Garage. It often (but not always) features her album band of Ryan Smith (Soul Asylum, UltraBomb, The Melismatics) on lead guitar, Mark Wade (The Melismatics, The Mood Swings) on bass, and her son Jack Strand (Loondale, Outta Coentro) on drums. Mary also plays guitar on all of her songs.

Her first Christmas single also released on November 1, 2024, and she’s currently working on an upcoming Christmas rock album for release in late 2026.