The Coathangers

The Coathangers

The Coathangers get critiqued in terms of gender because, as an all-girl band, they write songs about having a good time instead of toppling the patriarchy or being heartbroken. For its third album, Larceny & Old Lace (also the name of a Golden Girls episode), the Atlanta quartet doesn't downplay anything in this evolution from the shaky barroom scream of 2009's Scramble. "Johnny" and "Chicken: 30" both have the same dissonant abandon as Scramble's "Gettin' Mad and Pumpin' Iron," but from righteous opener "Hurricane" through sentimental closer "Tabbacco Rd.," the nasal vocal trade-offs have softened a bit, the subject matter and hooks grown more nuanced. It doesn't flow as well as Scramble, but the Coathangers are masters of disguise, and Larceny's a straightforward punk album hiding darker feelings. They're taking the rock & roll framework and smashing it in your living room. (Party with the Coathangers Sunday, July 17, at Mohawk.)