A neon blur of rainbow prints, hair dye and buzzing surf guitars, Tacocat are three girls and one guy who hooked up by chance in Seattle and bonded over a mutual love of riot grrrl bands, alt-rock and The Lemonheads. Drummer Lelah Maupin and guitarist Eric Randall met while working at Safeway; Maupin then bumped into singer Emily Nokes in 'an excruciatingly boring' graphic design class and they all came together when Randall's previous band (The Trashies) were practising in the basement of bassist Bree McKenna's house.

The band shamelessly ransacks the 90s for their own brand of effervescent rock. Nokes is as upbeat as their songs, describing their music as: 'melodic feminist pop-punk-pop music for, and by, people who love fun! Audible glitter! A kaleidoscope of best friends, loud fashion and candy!' They tackle serious subjects with an infectious sense of humour, on tracks such as 'Crimson Wave' and 'Hey Girl' (respectively, a comedic, satirical take on menstruation, and on being hassled in the street by men.)

After 2014's NVM the 'cat are back with album number three, Lost Time, another explosion of 60s girl groups, rock riffs and good times. 'NVM was hoola-hooping on a hot-pink beach; Lost Time is riding in a sparkly purple UFO through outer space,' says Nokes. 'Erik Blood produced this one and we just love him so much. His wizard magic really helped us progress in a way we’re really stoked about, and couldn’t have done without him.'

Perhaps the ultimate seal of approval comes from three ultra-cute animated superheroes: Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, aka The Powerpuff Girls. 'Cartoon Network contacted us and asked if we would do the theme song [for the 2016 relaunch]. It was nuts!' exclaims Nokes. 'I still kind of can’t believe it’s finally airing soon, it seemed like it was too good to be true.'

Tacocat play Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Tue 3 May; Broadcast, Glasgow, Wed 4 May.