Tacocat
Lost Time
Release Date: Apr 1, 2016
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Hardly Art
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Buy Lost Time from Amazon
Album Review: Lost Time by Tacocat
Very Good, Based on 13 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
Some nine years after springing to life in Seattle, Tacocat have evolved their sound from bolshie riot punk into something more mellow. That’s not to say the four-piece have forsaken their aggressive, feminist roots, but on this third full-length they’ve channelled their attitude into bite-size slices of power-pop. Yet if their sound has mellowed somewhat, these 12 songs still have plenty of bite, covering a range of subjects that capture the nature of modern life, especially as a woman.
Based on rating 4/5
Seasons change, trends come and go, yet one thing is forever guaranteed: some joyless swine is itching to tell you that guitar pop is dead. Don’t plan any funerals just yet, though – Tacocat's third album positively brims with the good stuff. The neon hooks of FYP make clear why they were recently chosen to reboot the Powerpuff Girls theme, and they're smart and funny enough to namecheck R.E.M.
Based on rating 8/10
Lost Time, Tacocat's third album, is the Seattle quartet's crispest, most focused yet. Their punky pop is delivered with a punch, the guitars have some serious bite, and the rhythm section hits hard. Their previous album, NVM, was a fun bubblegum confection; Lost Time is punk to the core. It's tough to be more hardcore than hating the weekend, it's seriously outsider to (quite correctly) extol the merits of Scully when everyone still loses their stuff over Mulder, and banning R.E.M.
Based on rating 8/10
The catchy and exciting Tacocat are back with their third release, Lost Time. Continuing where they left off with 2014's NVM, the band deliver a half-hour of humorous and enjoyable pop punk.Throughout Lost Time, Tacocat tackle multiple topics while retaining their strong, unique voice and without comprising on their ability to craft a wickedly catchy chorus. "Dana Katherine Scully" is an ode to Gillian Anderson's character on The X-Files, while the album's title is another reference to the series.
Based on rating 7.5/10
In an era when most bands are afraid to say anything, almost every song on Tacocat's great third album has something to say. "I Hate the Weekend" rails against the influx of drunken suburbanites on Seattle streets while "The Internet" and "Talk" argue for more genuine human connection and less online ranting and screen time. There is a huge sense of fun here, however, with a song dedicated to Scully of The X-Files and the declarative "I Love Seattle." The music is fantastic, catchy, unpretentious power-pop.
Based on rating 7/10
Nostalgia is a powerful force that shapes our lives. It’s a force whose presence can be felt most profoundly in the art we produce. As an undergrad, I took a class my freshman year on the history of popular music in the ‘70s and ‘80s (as well as smidgeon of music from the first half of the ‘90s strongly influenced by stylistic forebears). It was a life-changing course, because the music of that era fragments and branches off into so many different genres.
Based on rating B-
Tacocat love to be silly. From music videos with dancing lobsters and gumball-covered album art, to their space-age fashion and candy floss hair, being a goofball is practically in their job description. Their latest release, Lost Time, fits the bill, embracing the ridiculous with open arms. Don’t let the antics fool you, though, as a method is revealed in the madness over the course of the album.
Based on rating 6.1/10
The third album by Tacocat starts with a clean garage-rock tribute to discerning "X-Files" lead "Dana Katherine Scully." It's typical for the Seattle four-piece, who mix songs about their love of pop culture—they just did the theme to the "Powerpuff Girls" reboot—with tirades about periods, pervs, and the patriarchy. Released in 2014, Tacocat's NVM riffed on IM slang for "never mind," a reference to the city's most famous sons, and essentially mocked how far we'd veered from Kurt Cobain's future-female ideals. Its vibrant spirit ran on the kind of energy you'd only otherwise get from chugging a giant sports drink before egging someone's house.
Based on rating 3/5
The second album from Seattle's Tacocat's is full of concise, energetic pop-punk, built on surfy guitars, sharp melodies and the whip-smart feminist wit of singer Emily Nokes. These brief, conversational songs fly by like text messages to a best friend – emoji-laden missives about girl power, cats, aliens, weed and pop-culture. Lost Time's opener, "Dana Katherine Scully", is an ode to the X-Files star.
Based on rating 6/10
Palindromic pop-punks Tacocat are a Seattle band that named their sophomore album NVM (the txt shorthand for “never mind”), because that’s hilarious and they’re not the type to worry about sacred cows. Prickly but relatable third album Lost Time covers territory familiar to anyone who’s spent time on the Internet recently: Dana Scully from The X-Files is pretty cool; Seattle is falling into the sea sooner rather than later; don’t read the comments if you value your faith in humanity. So what if the ripped-from-the-headlines approach can’t actually keep up with the pace of the Internet; who can? Lost Time (the title is another X-Files reference) is supposed to be fun.
Opinion: Excellent
Because its sophomore record, NVM, packed together upbeat tracks about menstruation and catcalling, Tacocat is a feminist band. Really, because three of its members are women and they happen to occasionally express an acerbic viewpoint, the four-piece is essentially a riot-grrrl revival act. Sound like silly, knee-jerk label-plastering? Well, it is, and those who listen to Lost Time through this artificially narrow lens will look past the lighthearted pleasures right there for the taking.
Opinion: Excellent
Tacocat makes what is quite possibly the world’s most empowered and engaged bubblegum punk, out Brat-ting the Bratmobile at brash and buoyant gender commentary that, you know, rocks. Lost Time is this three-quarters female outfit’s third full-length, crisper and punchier than earlier efforts but no less subversive. Gleefully in your face, these songs stake out the parts of female experience that you might not want to think about too hard, if you’re a banker dude hitting the hip parts of Seattle on a Friday night (see “I Hate the Weekend,” if you have any doubts how Tacocat feels, collectively, about these guys).
Opinion: Very Good
Tacocat’s bassist, Bree McKenna, may be the child of original Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine, but the band’s music couldn’t be further away from the cacophony of Metallica’s thrash metal. Their new album, Lost Time, takes the successful formula of accessible alt-pop intertwined with a strong feminist message used on the band’s prior two full-lengths and refines it - the songs remain economically short, but the production is tighter which makes the album as a whole sound more colourful. Lost Time sounds like Toronto indie-poppers Alvvays, had they signed to cult garage-rock Californian label Burger Records and made a song containing menstruation metaphors.
'Lost Time'
is available now