The Dead Girls

If the Replacements are the guys who sang about Alex Chilton, then the Dead Girls are the guys who sang about the Replacements singing about Alex Chilton. She likes 'Alex Chilton' more than anything I've ever written, sings Dead Girl JoJo Longbottom, shouting out the seminal song on the 'Mats Pleased to Meet Me album. There are plenty of third-generation influences coursing through the Girls' new Hair Trigger EP, but they're so spot-on that it's hard to find fault. "Coming on Strong" is a fat slice of toe-tapping pop out of the Teenage Fanclub songbook, while "Sound the Alarm" nicks a few tricks from the XTC catalog. It's a promising start to the year for the Dead Girls (formerly Dead Girls Ruin Everything), who plan to release another EP and a full-length before the 2010 ball drops.