Photo by Zach Canning

Beaming power-pop romanticism with a post-hardcore aggression bristling right beneath the sunshine’s surface? It’s an interesting concept that Force Model flirt with successfully on “How Can One Girl Be So Sad?”, the latest preview from the Los Angeles experimental rockers’ imminent extended play, Barricade. This wouldn’t be the first time that the trio have bent a tried and true sound into their old moldings, as the EP’s first preview “All Expectations” took on a similar challenge in toying around with shoegaze and ’90s indie rock on their canvas. What’s appreciated here that separates their formula from the Angel Du$ts and dazys of the world is in where they apply those heavier electrical currents to regenerated pop energy. Those tiny details — the stomping drum and errant frequencies at the 1:30 mark that sound like they’re ready to round up the pit, how hard those drums go, and vocalist and guitarist Edie Vogel hitting those high marks to the point of fraying the circuit board in its final moment. Feeling blue? Force Model are literally working hard in overdrive to get you to crack a smile…

Force Model’s Barricade will be released June 20th on Bug Body.