Desperate, Scared But Social

Emily’s Sassy Lime, “Desperate, Scared But Social” (Kill Rock Stars, 2005)
Formed by the Yao sisters, Wendy and Amy, and their high-school friend Emily Ryan, Emily’s Sassy Lime were true teenage rock and rollers. Inspired by a Bikini Kill show they snuck out to see, they wrote songs over the phone and almost never rehearsed, because their parents made them stay home and study, then broke up when they graduated and went off to different colleges! This is their second, last and best album, surf/garage/girl-group stylings cloaked in loud, bewildering clouds of amp-fuzz and propelled by thick, pummeling mid-tempo rhythm, with awesome lyrics – elliptical Valley-Girl putdowns, teen-delinquent fantasies.
Picks: 4, 6, 9, 11