Kevin Bronson on July 24th, 2014

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The forthcoming debut EP from Castro will send you diving into the back of your closet for that old black jacket, if you were present during the heyday of the post-punk/New Wave movement that the L.A. quartet mines so deliciously. The band came together only a few months ago, with singer-guitarists Vincent Venturella and Jack Guimon having moved to L.A. from New York and Chicago, respectively. Bassist Eric Hehr later followed his high school pal Guimon to L.A., and then Maryland native Brendan McCusker signed on as drummer. With bands like the Cure as their ultimate reference point, Castro convened in the studio with producer/engineer Sean Guerin of L.A. dance-punk newbies De Lux. The resulting recordings capture the dark romanticism of the ’80s, played out as it often was to propulsive rock songs. And, by the way, Castro’s “You Can’t Be the Only One” works pretty well when Playmates dance to it.

||| Stream: “Why Don’t You Find Out?”

||| Live: Castro plays Aug. 1 at El Cid.