Tyrades

The debut album by Chicago's Tyrades (following 2002's Detonation EP) is engagingly sloppy garage punk with female vocals and an unrepentantly old-school sound that recalls the first wave of California punk bands, specifically the Avengers and the Bags. Singer Jenna Tyrade has the kind of alley cat yowl and provocative persona that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' singularly overhyped, and underperforming, Karen O only wishes she could pull off; her nearly atonal freakouts on songs like the shambolic "Cut Your Feet Off" are pure feral ferocity. Yet, on more straightforward songs like the hyper-speed, X-like "Same Sex Killers," the Tyrades prove a mostly hidden knack for direct, almost poppy, punk rock songs that manage to be catchy without sounding calculated. These nine songs are over in 22 and a half breathless minutes, just enough time to satisfy the class-of-'77 punk spirit. Stewart Mason, Rovi