Bangs

The sheer rock'n'roll exhilaration provided by this Olympia trio is summed up perfectly in the 47-second opening track, "Fast Easy Love." But this is more than cheap thrills, as vocalists Sarah Utter and Maggie Vail (younger sister of Bikini Kill's Tobi) let you know in the title track, "I'm smarter than I look and you're dumber than you know." There's little room for the classic Olympia amateurism here; Utter is a fiery lead guitarist while Vail and drummer Kyle Ermatinger are a propulsive rhythm section. The only time it pleasantly slows down is "Undo Everything," which fondly recalls that fleeting moment in 1994 when Courtney Love actually wrote songs. Otherwise, anthemic choruses and pop-punk hooks abound. Like Don McKellar told Valerie Buhagiar's character in Highway 61, "Now I know why they call you Bangs."