The Muscadettes
Side A EP
HFN Music
Street: 04.21
The Muscadettes = Alvvays + Best Coast + Slutever
 
The Muscadettes’ five-song EP hits with one summer anthem after another. The Montreal-based group’s brand of chorusing garage infuses the shouts of female-fronted, ’90s punk bands with the pop and rockabilly tendencies of ’60s surf. “Growing Pains” is most reminiscent of The Runaways, with declarative, bouncing verses that course into several series of “ooh, oohs” before spanning into a spacey swirl of guitar reverb and synths. “Like a Wave” is pure dream-pop groove—reminiscent of Dum Dum Girls—with wispy, longing vocals and two solos—one twanging guitar, one crystalline keyboard. We’re immediately brought back from this beachside reverie, however, with “Honey Let Go,” a combination of harder-hitting, muscular garage rock and cheeky rhymes (“I won’t let go / Just because you said so / Even from the get-go … Honey let go”). The songs are catchy, hook-filled and carousing—irresistible for sunshine-filled summer revelry. –Kathy Zhou