A Little Messed Up

The Dollyrots pivot around the sugary vocals of singer/bassist Kelly Ogden, who started the band in 2000 with longtime friend and guitarist Luis Cabeza while going to college in Florida. Now based in L.A. and signed to Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records, the power pop trio makes frothy, faintly punk-tinged music, sounding more like fans of Carly Rae Jepsen (“Call Me Maybe”) and Green Day than their cited influences The Ramones and The Sex Pistols. Leaving the grittier feel of their last two albums behind, A Little Messed Up still has enough sass to please early fans: the opening track, “Rock Control,” evokes both Jett with its razor-sharp guitars and The Tings Tings with its vocal chirps. The gossipy bite of “Bigmouth” pulses with snarling guitars, and “Let’s Be in Love” has a surprisingly meaty heft. The title track and other tunes—like the summery “California Beach Boy” and the jangly, wistful “Rollercoaster”—are only a shade (of pink) away from Katy Perry, indicating that The Dollyrots may have re-charted their musical course. If so, wise move; there’s no reason “Some Girls” shouldn’t be blasting from teenage girls’ earbuds alongside “Firework.”