Injecting raw and catchy noise pop with a punkier riot grrrl sensibility,
Grrrl Gang
emerged from Indonesia as teenaged college students amid political unrest in the second half of the 2010s. They did so with a series of smart, playful feminist bops with titles like "Pop Princess" and "Guys Don't Read Sylvia Plath." These early singles were collected on their first full-length release,
Here to Stay!
, in 2019. A few years later, with members now based in Jakarta for day jobs, they've returned with their first official album and
Kill Rock Stars
label debut. The aptly named
Spunky!
picks up right where the previous set left off, with a series of mostly under-three-minute noise jingles that plays like a greatest-hits collection. The exasperated, feedback-injected opener, "Birthday Blues" ("I have died, I have lived a thousand times"), is followed by the more even-keeled and tuneful "A Fight Breaks Out at a Karaoke Bar," which irreverently celebrates the titular event. While that song flaunts femininity, later track "Cool Girl" takes an outsider's point of view with the group-sung anthem "I wish I was the cool girl!" ("I wanna tear my skin apart/It never glows in the dark.") Also on board is the racing grunge-pop entry "Better Than Life" (and brief, punk-bass-heavy instrumental "Tower Moment") before the track list gradually lightens in tone to end with a pair of bangers in the form of crush song "Blue Stained Lips" ("K-K-Kiss me on my blue-stained lips/Will you tell me that I'm the only one?") and "The Star." The latter song sends the 25-minute
out on an
Alvvays
-like, echo-washed guitar pop high, replete with an ascending, mid-chorus key change and disarmingly hopeful lyrics about moving forward to better days. Whether or not listeners relate to the album's youthful, coming-of-adulthood perspectives ("I blinked but now I'm 23"), its consistently infectious songs and unpolished performances are accessible to all. ~ Marcy Donelson