The Worst Of opens with a ‘Theme Song’ – “Itchy and the Nits! Itchy and the Nits! Scratch your head and scratch your bits!” –
as if it were the opening to a scrappily animated, not so child friendly cartoon. It’s the kind of tongue-in-cheek irreverence that punctures the catchy lyricism and chomping power chords of the Sydney band’s debut album.
Bethany, Eva, and Cin dance laps around a crowd, around their instruments, and around each other, playfully back and forthing as if they were singing over a car stereo with the windows down. You only need to see the vibrancy of their cover art to piece together their love of Nikki & The Corvettes, invoking the dawn of late 70s powerpop.
It adds a brightness to the burgeoning DIY scene of Sydney, where bands burst out of the garage and onto bandroom floors across the city. The Worst Of captures the liveness of these shows in a polished (as polished as DIY punk can get), re-recording of seven tracks we already loved as demos, alongside a handful of new favourites. It’s rat girl summer surf punk, delivered with a dry, call-it-how-you-see-it joy; odes to sneaking past $10 door charges on Enmore Road and flicking away boring, brickheaded dudes. Oh, and there’s like three songs about different types of tiny insect parasites.