I remember talking to some folks in the nearly mid 90s about the riot grrrl blossoming. We wondered what might happen when those bands grew up. And who might carry the torch in the future.

The Inflorescence Remember What I look Like (Kill Rock Stars)

Well, the answer to the first is hit TV shows and lots of reunion tours. Or at least one kinda trendy TV show and the occasional gig. But the kids kept listening, and now their kids are trying their hand at the sound. The members of the Inflorescence (formerly the Florescents) are scraping into their 20s, but they've clearly got decades of musical knowledge in their bones.

And these songs are tuneful, clunky and, in the end, simply grand. Kinda like Bikini Kill meets Sugar. Tuesday Denekas writes songs that are unapologetically emotional and fraught, though she likes to end on a high note. There is a real 1997 vibe going on, and I'm fully digging it.

The Inflorescence hail from the southern end of the West Coast, but they've hooked up with the archetypical Pacific NW indie. And those folks still know what's what. The band may not be old enough to have heard the peak of their sound, but they're writing a splendid new chapter. Play loud, and then play louder.

Jon Worley