Sometimes bands just get it right off the bat. Take "Ram Jam," the debut single from rising LA garage trio Pinky Pinky.The track is equal parts noir, 60s pop, and surf punk, cracking open the SoCal garage band formula with a heaving rhythm section (courtesy guitarist Isabelle Fields and bassist Eva Chambers) and vocalist-drummer Anastasia Sanchez's level-peaking howl. It's the sonic equivalent of wearing sunglasses on a hot summer night, girded by decidedly more sinister lyrics that take inspiration from the 1964 play "Dutchman" by poet and political activist Amiri Baraka: "My baby won't / Leave me alone / He comes through the window / He won't let me go!"The gals, who are between 17 and 19 years old, met a few years ago in high school, kicking around different band names and lineups until they landed on Pinky Pinky's current iteration in 2015. Around that time, the group become regulars at LA vintage spot Pygmy Hippo Shoppe, where they befriended owner Nathan Cabrera, a longtime creative collaborator of Hanni El Khatib. El Khatib and his label Innovative Leisure quickly noticed the band's sound, and took them under their wing alongside Crystal Antlers's Johnny Bell (who also worked on El Khatib's excellent new Savage Times project).The result of that mentorship is the group's debut self-titled EP, a tight four track collection recorded at Bell's Jazzcats Studio in Long Beach that hints at what might've happened if Os Mutantes had grown up around LA surf punk. The project is due out in April for Record Store Day.Listen to the premiere of Pinky Pinky's "Ram Jam" and pre-order the EP below.Andrea Domanick is Noisey's West Coast Editor. Follow her on Twitter.
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