Seemingly out of nowhere, a new contender for favorite contemporary budget garage-punk act has entered the chat. The Alices is a new creative outlet for Alice Strider, who you may know from The Knee-Hi’s. But whereas that band opts for a vintage garage/glam-pop-‘n’-roll sound that is rather polished, with The Alices she operates on a tight budget. I believe that to be a deliberate aesthetic choice, and one that I and a whole lot of our readers will appreciate.

If this record were an audition for the next Girls From The Garage or Pebbles comp, Alice Strider would be in with the first song here, Kiss My Face, where the subtle use of synth is probably the only thing that dates the song to the present day. But the super-fun All My Love, which has a classic rock-‘n’-roll vibe, may make an even better case, as do the ridiculously catchy punk rockers Paralyzed and I Don’t Like.

Or what about the trio of covers on this record? There’s a killer, fast-as-hell take on Getting Nowhere Fast (Girls At Our Best), a rendition of Stay Awhile (Dusty Springfield) with so much urgency that it cuts about 50 seconds from the original, which is only two minutes to begin with, and a song that has probably been covered enough by now (Whole Wide World by Wreckless Eric), but which The Alices still turn into a welcome addition to the canon.

The best surprises come out of nowhere and give you exactly what you didn’t know you needed. You bet I am excited about the emergence of The Alices!

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