Four best friends from Seattle have come together to create Lost Time, Tacocat’s third album, second for Hardly Art, and first with Shabazz Palaces producer Erik Blood. In their eighth year as a band, Tacocat have been accredited as a forerunner in the cultivation of their city’s “girlband” scene, but the group isn’t so quick to accept this label. Though Tacocat’s songs often present unabashedly feminist messages, members refused to be classified as anything other than human, arguing that both their music and their message are valid without being pin holed into as niche or a novelty. This biting and clever stance is embodied in music that’s as unapologetic as it is well written.

“I Hate the Weekend” employs a classic punk sound, embellished with surf rock drums and doo-wop harmonies. Almost like a more pissed-off Shonen Knife, the band dives into their album’s first single with convicting, in-your-face guitars, and lyrics that add a modern spin on the punk tradition of calling out authority figures. With a song “made for the working stiff,” Tacocat reminds listeners that while to some, the weekend means “letting loose like your life depends on it,” and to others (i.e. service industry workers), it means trying to put up with the crowds of drunken businessmen and women flooding the world’s bars and restaurants. With an out-there and socially conscious message embedded in smart and catchy instrumentation, this is an anthem that refuses to be ignored. Listen below.

Tacocat have tour dates coming up on both sides of the Atlantic:
03/31 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey (21+ show) [tickets]
04/07 St Paul, MN @ Turf Club [tickets]
04/08 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle [tickets]
04/09 Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar [tickets]
04/12 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
04/13 Brooklyn, NY @ Palisades (All-ages)
04/14 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs [tickets]
04/16 Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong [tickets]
04/19 Durham, NC @ Pinhook [tickets]
04/20 Atlanta, GA @ 529
04/21 Nashville, TN @ Stone Fox [tickets]
04/22 St Louis, MO @ Billiken Club
04/24 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
05/27-30 George, WA @ Sasquatch Music Festival
05/02 Nottingham, UK @ JT Soar [tickets]
05/03 Edinburgh, UK @ Electric Circus
05/04 Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast [tickets]
05/05 Cardiff, UK @ The Moon Club [tickets]
05/06 Brighton, UK @ Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar
05/07 London, UK @ The Lexington [tickets]
05/09 Paris, FR @ Le Mecanique Ondulature
05/11 Luzern, CH @ Schüür
05/12 Geneva, CH @ Kalvingrad L’Usine
05/13 Schorndorf, DE @ Manufaktur [tickets]
05/14 Tilburg, NL @ Extase
05/15 Hamburg, DE @ Aalhaus / http://bit.ly/1JGyUI3
05/18 Stockholm, SE @ Lilla Hotelbarren
05/19 Oslo, NO @ Internasjonalen
05/20 Lund, SE @ Mejereit
05/21 Copenhagen, DK @ Huset
05/22 Berlin, DE @ West Germany [tickets]

Lost Time is out 4/1 on Hardly Art. Pre-order it here.