[02.03] Forget about the wave of generic garage bands flooding the airwaves. Nevermind electro clash and all of its posturing. Revlon 9 pieces together the essential elements from both scenes and churns out a new sound that could outlast the trends. It's fierce. It's catchy. It's fun. And you can dance to it. With only two (difficult to find and short) EPs to their name, the Swedish trio has made a big impression in less than 30 minutes. This is bare bones rock dressed up with sultry female vocals, punk aesthetics and a splash of disco/synth-pop inspired keyboards. It's this dynamic that makes Revlon 9 stand out. Dirty guitars pair up with single-key melodies. Muddy synth chords stomp over synthetic staccato drums. The result: a lo-fi mix of fiery guitars, blaring keys and danceable beats that ignite involuntary foot movement.

While earlier songs like "The Seventh Seal" lean heavy on guitar, recent songs like the catchy "Fantastic" ("I feel super fantastic. I feel fucking fantastic.") look to keyboards and programmed beats to fill out the sound. The latest EP (the appropriately titled New!) is chock-full of synth swells and drum machine beats that bring back memories of the Thompson Twins and Prince & the Revolution.

Simplicity seems to be the band's plan of attack. The lyrics are straightforward and repetitive. There is no hyper-tech knob tweaking or vocoder effects. Just simple, clean notes. Even the look of the CDs take it back to the basics—CD-R copies with photocopied covers featuring the geometric pastel designs of the '80s. From the gritty guitar freak-out in "This is All This is It" to the clean, hand-clap synthetic beats of "Black Leather," Revlon 9 is making some noise that finally makes sense. My only complaint is that seven songs just isn't enough. For now I'll have to keep playing the two EPs back-to-back…on repeat. —Aerin