Household Name

Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten know that you can see their inspirations showing, so they namecheck Pavement and other Nineties bands. They’ve even got a sellout song, “Rockstar,” which is funny because nobody talks about selling out anymore. And that’s a good thing, since it was classist bullshit anyway. They have the thing down, that we loved about The Breeders and Cell and Veruca Salt and Kenickie and The Wedding Present, the compact two- or three-part riff that could amble for a few minutes, and a way of turning a phrase on its head just enough to make it clear you’re not slacking because you’re lazy—you just don’t want to let them see you sweat. A bright and economical album. Songs are not as easy as they make it seem!