As I'm sure we're all aware, there's a sort of renaissance happening right now with young bands rediscovering and reinterpreting the sunny, fuzzy garage pop sounds of the past few decades, particularly in California. These are bands that have the benefit of an enormous back catalogue of music to sift through and disseminate however they wish - to mix and match and come up with a composite sound, which will exist thanks entirely to the passing of time and muddying of cultural touchstones.

One such band is Wax Idols, a steadily rising fixture in this California scene. Headed by Hether Fortune, a former member of contemporaries like Hunx and His Punx and Bare Wires, Wax Idols has a similarly freewheeling sound that allows the band to experiment in punk, new wave and early goth. Fortune is adamant, however, at addressing certain comparisons.

"It is impossible to escape (certain) comparisons," says Fortune. "I've never in my life listened to Sleater-Kinney, unless it was on accident, or something. Nothing against them. I just don't like that kind of music. I was never into the riot grrrl movement. ... I never personally got into all female music. It just doesn't really ring true to me, for some reason. I feel more androgynous than I do female. It really irks me when, just because I am a woman, people who listen to my music automatically compare me to other bands who are dominated by women, which I think is really absurd, because not all women sit around listening to other women, you know? It's really bizarre to me. I've gotten tons of comparisons to all those '60s girl groups, which is even funnier, because I definitely don't listen to '60s girl groups at all. I mean, I like the Shangri-Las like any other smart person does, but I don't sit around listening to those bands. ... If I was a man, writing the exact same songs I've written, no one would ever compare me to Sleater-Kinney."

The point Fortune brings up is an important one, I think. Without thinking about it, I'm positive that I have mindlessly compared one girl-fronted band to another, simply because of this kind of subliminal association made between them. Wax Idols sounds no more like Sleater-Kinney than any other punk-leaning fuzz monster that's come along since the riot grrrl days. Much more present and noticeable in the music of Wax Idols are bands like Wire and the Cure.

Comparisons aside, Wax Idols (essentially a solo project of Fortune's) really shines because of the songs. Alternately ferocious and pop-minded, Wax Idols manages the difficult task of remaining individualistic in a wide field of up-and-coming bands of a similar ilk. This is thanks, largely, to the vocals of Fortune, which bounce back and forth between the vicious and the anthemic. She rules over songs with an iron fist, an ever-present force that lends the music a laser-like focus and drive.

Wax Idols are a band to look out for, and Fortune a talent to be reckoned with.

Wax Idols

with Terry Malts, Red Hex and Friday
Friday, Nov. 11, 9 p.m., $5
The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma
253.572.4020