Kevin Bronson on February 6th, 2013

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The Hectors seem as if they come from three-generations-ago Silver Lake – their single “Cold Star” was one of the highlights of the “International Pop Overthrow: Vol. 9” compilation (2006), and the sweet “I Drove All the Way From Bridgeport to Make It With You” is on one of our 2007 mixtapes here somewhere. But the quartet of Robert Bonilla, Corinne Dinner, Erik Greene and Jim Saunders have clearly upped their game since their EP in ’07, adding urgency, atmospherics and a polished sparkle to the songs on their long-awaited full-length “Her Dark Majesty,” due out March 5 via Tarantism. On “Sleeper,” Dinner invokes the riot-grrl swagger of some of 1990s’ indie-rock songstresses who weren’t quite riot grrls (“Sleeper” coincidentally recalls Louise Wener of mid-’90s Britpop standouts Sleeper, although Dinner tells us via email she was not familiar with Sleeper). “Episodes” dives into darker territory, with rough-and-tumble guitars counterposed with Dinner’s cooing. Longtime followers will love where the Hectors have gone – it’s a place where fans of bands like Veruca Salt can find them, rocking out.

||| Stream: “Sleeper” and “Episodes”

||| Also: Get a download of an earlier version of the album track “Your Favorite Year” that was released on a split 7-inch with Seasons.

Photo by Tony Markezi