Hunter Valentine are a three-piece all-girl rock band from Toronto who will release their second full-length album, Lessons From The Late Night, on April 17. With seven songs totalling 22 minutes, it’s a slight step above an EP, though you probably won’t be disappointed that there isn’t more.

Lead singer Kyomi McCloskey sounds like a less-raspy Brody Dalle (of Spinerette, formerly of The Distillers). The vocals add a flare to the album’s sound, which isn’t as bland as it is a few years too late. It feels like pop punk that’s trying to weigh on the punk side, which is very symptomatic of the early 2000s with bands like Anti-Flag and Closet Monster.

The opening tracks “The Stalker” and “Treadmills of Love,” are catchy, and the mix of vocals on the latter are a nice touch. Things cool off a bit with “Revenge,” and “Scarface” is the most pop-friendly song on the album, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. “Barbara Jean” is catchy but uses the age-old punk trick of briefly pausing the song for a second during the chorus with a couple of heavy downbeats on the drums, like at the start of “Communication Breakdown” by Led Zeppelin.

Overall, the album feels torn between punk and pop, and even though the two aren’t mutually exclusive – my favourite childhood bands wouldn’t exist if they were – the album sounds like it’s trying to be one or the other, depending on the song.