Gal Pals

Velvet Rut (PaperCup Music)

In the video for Gal Pals’ 2013 single, “For Our Sake,” guitarist Lauren Mikus and drummer Jillian Talley are seen snorting Lik-M-Aid. Consider that a perfect televisual approximation of the ex-Austin duo’s swirl of bubblegum beat-punk and Sixties girl group sensibilities. Imagine the Shangri-Las remade by Burger Records. Now based in Los Angeles, Gal Pals build on the appeal of their singles with an LP debut bursting with guitars and jerk-worthy rhythms augmented by tambourine and handclaps. Replete with nonlexical vocables, Mikus and Talley’s harmonies cinch the deal with teeth-destroying sugar. “Here’s to the Gals” exemplifies the pair’s ability to reconcile retro-femme themes through a liberating prism of Nineties Olympia, while “Gold Rush” chronicles their westward vaunt to escape Austin’s (increasingly threadbare) velvet rut. No solos or fills in the way, this joyride makes a beeline for the heart of the California myth. (Thu., 9:30pm, Parish Underground)

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This article appears in March 20 • 2015.

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Greg Beets was born in Lubbock on the day Richard Nixon was elected president. He has covered music for the Chronicle since 1992, writing about everyone from Roky Erickson to Yanni. Beets has also written for Billboard,Uncut, Blurt, Elmore, and Pop Culture Press. Before his digestive tract cried uncle, he co-published Hey! Hey! Buffet!, an award-winning fanzine about all-you-can-eat buffets.