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The Trucks: The Trucks Label: Clickpop Records Released: 2006

One part Dresden Dolls, one part Go-Go’s, two parts Peaches and one part xylophone, Washington-based girl group the Trucks combine sensitive introspection, catchy pop tunes, incredibly dirty lyrics and retro electropop-style loops and samples on their surprisingly catchy and entertaining self-titled debut.

Skillfully managing a balancing act between being dirty sluts and lovelorn innocents, the Trucks go back and forth between wanting to screw until the sun comes up (in songs like “Titties” and “3AM”) and just wanting to cuddle with their boyfriends. The beautiful ballad “Messages” is indicative of the latter, as the girls lament over their MIA boyfriends; there’s a bit of animosity bundled with their lovesickness, though, as they cry “You only reach out on my machine / Is it easier surrounded by beeps?”

Throughout the whole thing, the girls are able to maintain a great, mean-spirited sense of humor, directed toward everyone who’s ever screwed them over (or wasn’t able to screw them when they wanted it). On the enigmatically titled “March 1st,” they blast an ex who wants to come back with “I think you’re a fucking idiot / Always talking shit” over what sounds like a marching band processional for a new-wave high school, and while “Comeback” may at first sound like your typical I-want-you-back pop ballad, it quickly takes on another meaning, as the girls vow to kill their significant others with their bare hands (guns are too loud). Their sense of humor does go a bit too far on “Man Voice,” however; a joke song which employs vocoder techniques to make lead singer/xylophonist Marissa Naselle Moore sound like a dude. The joke isn’t funny, the song is unlistenable, and listeners are advised to skip it.

Maybe all those emotionally-unavailable pricks are the reason that they seem to spend so much time looking to get off instead of looking for a nice quiet long-term relationship. While the previously mentioned ballads may give you the idea that these girls just want a man to hold on to, the rest of the album shows that they really just want to hold on to one specific part of their men. These chicks want it now and they want it their way. On “Titties” they lambaste an over-eager lover with “Think we can fuck just because you put your tounge in my mouth and you twisted my titties baby,” and on “Why The?” they ask a question that millions of women have been asking their men since the beginning of time (hint: it involves their tongues). It’s no surprise that they end up turning to store-bought electronics to get the job done on “Diddle-Bot,” a sexually charged ode to self-love that makes Cyndi Lauper’s “She-Bop” sound like a nursery school rhyme.

No matter what their mood, one thing is consistent with the Trucks: they consistently deliver catchy electro melodies to accompany their witty and intelligent lyrics. The more overtly sexual tunes seem to fluctuate toward Peaches-like hardcore electro (with some xylophone solos thrown in), while the more intimate pop songs forgo a lot of the beep and boop effects for more traditional arrangements. It works well, and adds up to a fun record that should appeal to both horny girls and the guys who want to bed them.