IN THE CULT TV series The X-Files, the nearby presence of UFOs causes an odd phenomenon. Symptoms include blinding white light, dead car engines, failed electricity, and the complete blackout of human memories—a disorienting time loss that’s reflected in frozen-handed clocks. This extraterrestrial bending of space and time serves as the inspiration for Tacocat’s newest record, Lost Time.
“It takes up a lot of time to write songs, to tour,” says Emily Nokes, the band’s lead singer (and former music editor for the Mercury’s sister paper, Seattle’s The Stranger). “You just start blending together the whole process of being in a band for eight years.”
Nokes is joined by Eric Randall (guitar), Lelah Maupin (drums), and Bree McKenna (bass). Lost Time is the band’s third studio album, a follow-up to 2014’s NVM and further confirmation that Tacocat is one of the best bands ever to blossom in Seattle. Nokes freely sings about messy periods, Plan B, mansplainers, and “human mosquitos” in the Area 51 of online comment sections, all in a conversational tone that de-stigmatizes these topics to the tune of sugar-fueled surf punk.