The What Four - (Four) The Record (2025)

Good time rock 'n roll isn't dead yet, and The What Four, a new, Southern California quartet (with two additional background singers providing support) proves it.

I normally don't rely on an artist's own words to describe their music, but there's no way I can top the marvelous and deliberately cumbersome description The What Four posted about themselves on their website: "Blending 60s girl-group harmonies with gritty guitars, whip-smart lyrics, and anthems for the romantically over-it and perpetually underestimated that will hit you right in the nostalgia. The record captures the quiet desperation of suburban adolescence—awkward crushes, misfired confidence, and the defiant joy of being a little too much."

Visually and musically, The What Four may remind listeners of The Stray Cats, The B-52s, The Go-Go's, Blondie, and a few 60s garage rock bands on their spirited, four-song, debut EP, Four (The Record).

It's possible a few older readers may confuse the band with two obscure 1960s outfits that used their name in the past. There was a male four-piece from the Cincinnati suburbs called The What Four that was active in 1966 and an all-female group with the same moniker caused a minor sensation with a single titled, "I'm Going to Destroy That Boy" on Columbia Records the same year.

The What Four's lineup features Katie Stratton on guitar. She's the lead singer on three of the EP's four tracks. Drummer Marc Orrell was previously a member of the hard-hitting, Celtic rock band The Dropkick Murphys. Jeff Roffredo plays acoustic, upright bass, and guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Ratfield contributed lead vocals on "Quarter to Midnight." They're ably assisted by singers Molly Madden and Tara Morris.

These wild and wonderful throwbacks know how to give their listeners a rollicking good time. No one can ask for more during these solemn times, and I can't wait to party with them again (even if it's only in my imagination).

This brief, 11:30 EP can be streamed on Spotify. You can also listen to the full songs on SoundCloud following the two YouTube videos below and purchase it there. I bought my copy from iTunes.

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