Pretty Girls Make Graves

Pretty Girls Make Graves takes its name from a lilting Smiths tune, but the Seattle quintet sounds nothing like Morrissey and company. If anything, the group owes its style and approach to algebraic art-house acts like Fugazi. Andrea Zollo sings with the grit and determination of a burly rocker, infusing every screech with enough balls to stock an NBA summer camp. The group’s proper debut, 2002’s Good Health, fit in perfectly with other artists on the Lookout roster, but last year the group moved to Matador and released last fall’s stellar full-length The New Romance, a grown-up effort that underscored the outfit’s newfound sense of self. This year involves heaps of roadwork, with the band soldiering on in the face of guitarist Nathan Thelan’s recent departure.