We tell the truth!' Meet the NaNaz, the over-50s punks raging about pensions, recycling bins and menopause

Riot Women faced criticism over authenticity, with doubts about whether a fictional menopausal punk band felt real. A real-life alternative exists in South Wales: NaNaz, a six-piece punk band formed by women in their 50s and 60s. Their songs address unaffordable care home fees, male attitudes toward older women, and frustrations with recycling. NaNaz have gained visibility through features on guitar.com and an Age Cymru poster campaign. The band’s story began at the Cab, a hardcore punk club in Newport, where they met through Nana Punk workshops that welcomed women over 50 with no experience and no instruments required. Bassist and vocalist Anne-Marie Bollen, a former community nurse, joined after seeing the social media advert and was inspired by earlier generations of female punk musicians.

"After the first episode of Riot Women was on TV, loads of people got in touch with us, all saying: this is old news you lot are already doing it, says Anne-Marie Bollen, 60, bassist, vocalist and a former community nurse. Bollen had seen an advert on social media for Nana Punk workshops at the Cab, which invited women over 50 to come and experiment with instruments and performing. It said no experience necessary, no instruments required, and it was on Sunday afternoons."

"Their repertoire of songs tackles everything from unaffordable care home fees, to male attitudes towards older women, to the frustrations of recycling. And they are possibly the only band to have ever been featured on both the homepage of guitar.com and a poster campaign for Age Cymru. I meet the NaNaz in the bat-cave gloom of the Cab, a hardcore punk club in Newport."

"To my uninformed eyes, this reads like a menu from the takeaway from hell, but it was within these walls that the NaNaz story began. Recent headliners include Murderburgers, Pizzatramp and Siberian Meat Grinder. To my uninformed eyes, this reads like a menu from the takeaway from hell, but it was within these walls that the NaNaz story began."

"A miner's daughter, Bollen grew up in south Wales and as a misfit teenager was inspired by the first generation of female punk musicians. I used to love X-Ray Spex, Pauline Murray of Penetration, Siouxs"

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