Teenage girls of the world rejoice! Here we have an all-female pop-rock band to provide an antidote to the porny hyper-sexuality of Rihanna and the bleating victim complex of Taylor Swift.
This is smart, spirited, catchy, spiky pop with a refreshing seam of raw honesty. And as stars of US TV’s The Real L Word, they give voice to the young LGBT community – much needed in a world where so many turned a blind eye to the faux-lesbian homophobic bullshit of Katy Perry’s appalling I Kissed A Girl.
Frontwoman Kiyomi McCloskey shares that mouthful-of-marbles vocal style with Gwen Stefani, but musically they’re a world away, glimpses of Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday shining through their melodies to make Collide & Conquer an effervescent ride. Members of the grunge generation having little riot grrrls of their own should embrace them.