On paper, I thought that Magneta Lane sounded like a terrible idea. Three Canadian girls, all under twenty, playing pop-punk with an emphasis on the fact that, indeed, every member of the band is a girl. I was expecting a rehash of the inanity personified in movies like "Josie and the Pussycats", a bunch of unimpressive songs that are supposed to be better because they're actually sung by a bunch of sexy girls.

Fortunately for me, I underestimated this band. Magneta Lane are a girl band, and they don't shy away from that, but they also have enough skills and talent that they don't have to rely on that to get by. On "The Constant Lover", their debut EP, they show that while they still have a few little kinks to work out of their system, they might have a serious future ahead of them if they stick at it.

What's so good about this release then? It can be all boiled down to impressive songwriting and construction. On songs like Ugly Socialite, which borrows a line from a Foo Fighters song, and twists it until its almost unrecognisable, the band show that they're not going to be content writing by-the-numbers pop. It's witty, it's sharp, and it's a hell of a lot more intelligent than this genre usually is. Another highlight is the title track, which features a strangely appropriately monotone vocal delivery, on top of a melody that's catchier than ebola.

I talked about some kinks earlier though, and on this EP, the main kink definitely comes in the form of the second-to-last track, Mare of the Night. Although it doesn't even break the five minute mark, it still seems to drag on for an eternity, the fire and passion of the rest of the songs strangely absent. It seems that this band is good at delivering its music in short, violent bursts, and these longer songs, rather than sounding epic, just end up sounding like crappy filler. Hopefully, as the band gains more experience, they'll learn that songs such as this one should be left on the cutting room floor.

One rotten track aside, this is quite a promising debut. I'm not going to be investing my life savings into this band, but I wouldn't be surprised if they made a bigger splash in the future. They can write sharp, insightful songs that don't need to resort to the normal puerile one-liners and recycled slogans that other bands are forced to. It's not the best debut of the year, but it's still definitely worth checking out.