Some bands you just know are going to make a great record eventually. Taxi Girls were one of them. What you can’t always predict is the margin of victory.

And damnit, the Montreal crew featuring Jamie Radu (Pale Lips, Reta Records), Vera Bozickovic, Lynn Poulin (Pale Lips, Dirty Cheetah), and Gabrielle Noël-Bégin (Margarette Tracteur) have blown my expectations for Static out of the window.

Taxi Girls occupy the exact coordinates where The Go-Go’s, Joan Jett, The Runaways, and Bikini Kill converge.  That’s a recipe that requires more than just good songs. Attitude and execution matter too. Taxi Girls nail it because they don’t seem to be thinking about any of that. The confidence here borders on bratty. Just when the vocals start sounding sweet and inviting, a snarl or howl cuts through the mix to remind you that this band isn’t interested in playing nice. Taxi Girls come across as effortlessly cool, which is the hardest thing to fake and the best thing to actually be.

It helps that the songs are ridiculous. The one-two opener of Say It! and Try Harder hits the ground at full sprint. Auto Hysterics is a bona fide pop-punk gem with what sounds like serious Kim Shattuck worship baked in. Midnight Mixtape could pass for a lost ’80s new wave single that somehow never got its due. And that opening chant on Secret Handshake? Zero resistance. It kicks off a run of especially irresistible songs alongside It Makes Me Think and Highs // Lows, a Go-Go’s-indebted earworm with genuine hit potential. There is not a single moment on this record where you’ll want to skip ahead.

I expected this to be good. I didn’t expect it to be this good.

Static is out now on Stomp Records and Wild Honey Records.

Fun fact: Natalie Sweet, who previously graced the latest Yum Yums album while sucking on a lollipop, returns here as the hand model squeezing a lemon on the cover.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Wild Honey || Stomp