Sarah and the Safe Word

alternative rock · punk rock

Sarah and the Safe Word is a rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2015 by vocalist Sarah Rose and guitarist Kienan Dietrich, describing its sound as cabaret rock, a mix of 1920s theatrical cabaret staging with punk, pop-punk, emo and gothic rock. The lineup also includes Beth Ballinger on keys and vocals and Maddox Reksten on bass and vocals, with Jeff Matthews on drums and percussion since 2023 and Leica Wilde on violin since 2025. The band released its debut album Strange Doings in the Night in 2017, later remastered in 2022, and the record's reception brought a personal invitation to play Vans Warped Tour that year, a guest appearance on the CW series The Originals, and a Debut of the Year nod from Alternative Press. It signed to Take This To Heart Records in 2019, releasing Red Hot & Holy that year, Good Gracious! Bad People. in 2020 and The Book of Broken Glass in 2023. The band went fully independent in October 2025, marking the split with a cover of The Devil Went Down to Georgia billed as its final recording for the label, and issued The Disappearing Girl in 2026. Its label described the group as existing in two worlds, the atmosphere of a speakeasy alongside sweat-soaked punk shows, and the band frames its live performance around free expression, sexual liberation and community without boundaries, with Rose fronting the set in period costume. It has toured with Motionless in White, The Birthday Massacre and Dog Park Dissidents, and maintains an unusually direct relationship with its audience through Discord and Twitch alongside the standard streaming and social platforms.

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