Furlough Fridays

When I first heard Chico band Furlough Fridays, their sound brought me back to my high school days in the mid-to-late-’90s, a time when alternative music was a mix of garage rock, punk, grunge and grrrl power. Reminiscent of sultry-voiced rocker Shirley Manson, front woman Linda Bergmann is awesome to watch live. Four years of playing shows in and around Chico have culminated in their first CD, What I Did on My Day Off, an EP that showcases the band’s alternative/garage-rock sensibilities. Bergmann is backed by Brian Larson on lead guitar, drummer Sam Casale and husband and wife rocker-duo Adam and Meagan Yates on rhythm and bass guitar, respectively. “Young and Dumb” gets stuck in your head immediately, as does the bouncy, aptly named “Pop Rocks,” a sweet anthem that makes you want to dance and sing along with Bergmann when she belts out the lyrics: “I’m watching you, and all your moves/ realizing you are human too/ How would you like it if I did this to you?” The hardworking band has a full-length LP planned for a spring release. While you wait, take some mandatory time off, forget your economic woes and pick up this teaser from Furlough Fridays and rock out.