Juicy Newt

Any band that calls its members “Vagina Rock Warriors” and takes its name from a pseudonym for a slutty friend must be on a sublime mission to spread its, uh, music to the menstruating masses. But the music made by the three ladies of Juicy Newt — vocalist/guitarist Annamarie Sanchez, vocalist/bassist Brenda Perkins, and drummer Sarah Bingham — doesn’t have an explicitly feminist slant, nor does it harbor some sort of extreme, estrogen-addled shock-rocker vibe. The pop rock the trio produces is safe enough, even with lyrics like “Fuck you now and fuck you then” (from the stripped-down indie rock number “I Follow Through”).

The band’s sound has been likened to The Go-Go’s several times, and while we hate to jump on the comparison bandwagon, that’s pretty damn accurate. Of the five songs here, each one bears some sonic resemblance to the sugary New Wave that Carlisle and Co. started cranking out more than two decades ago — from the beat-heavy ballad “Stalker Song” to the melancholy march of “DPS.” And “The Lovely Drunk,” with its dreamy-yet-simple pop-punk chord progressions and wistful crooning, sounds like a scene out of that old Go-Go’s home video, minus a bleary-eyed Belinda Carlisle telling some guy with bad ’80s hair that he has to jack off.