On Winter Hill, Miss Derringer muster up a major label sound while sticking with the indies – Nickel and Dime Records, this time 'round. The slow and shadowy sounds of sophomore effort Lullabies are discarded here in favor of rockabilly and sweeping, Roy Orbison-esque tunes that evoke the epic desires and tragic love stories of early American rock 'n' roll. In fact, there's something of a conceptual conceit behind Winter Hill, as its ten tracks provide a fictional soundtrack to real-life gang wars that occurred in Boston in the 1960s. And, sure enough, when listening to a noir-ish stomper like opener "Click Click (Bang Bang)", it's easy to imagine greasers and their girls behind the wheels of hot rods, careening headlong toward rival turf. The shot from that first track is stopped by its successor, "Bulletproof Heart." It's the perfect melding of Go-Go's hooks and Pat Benatar grit, as platinum blonde singer Liz McGrath coos and snarls along with a punchy tom-tom beat and crunchy guitar.

Winter Hill has its mellow side, too. "Don't Leave Me Now" is a classic girl-pop ballad, but refracted through the slightly scuzzy lens of, say, Social Distortion or Reigning Sound. In fact, Miss Derringer's latest has a similar appeal to the 2007 LP (Dangerous Game) that ex-Shangri-Las singer Mary Weiss recorded with garage rockers Reigning Sound. In both cases, the heart and soul of "Leader of the Pack" is given a modern spin.

Miss Derringer accomplish this with their looks as well as their sound. The boys in the band – who include McGrath's husband, guitarist Morgan Slade – are most often clad in black. With thick mascara and a smattering of tattoos, their aesthetic lies somewhere between emo boys and Sunset Boulevard punk rockers. However, this dark demeanor drastically over-sells the rough edges in the group's music. Track titles like "Heartbreaks & Razorblades" and "Drop Shot Dead" may come off as tough, but the songs are really quite sweet. That latter cut is also catchy as hell, as is the majority of Winter Hill. With its ten tunes lasting just over 30 minutes, few notes are wasted here. What you get is a lean, rock-solid record of retro girl group goodness that's beefed up with dashes of garage, punk, and rockabilly. So, move over West Side Story – because gangland warfare has never sounded this good.

Recommended Tracks: "Drop Shot Dead," "Black Tears," "Don't Leave Me Now"

-Michael Keefe