Between the grizzly pounding of picks on fuzz-laden guitars, GYMSHORTS’ Sarah Greenwell shouted into the mic like a crazed fan who had climbed on stage to profess her love for the headliner: “Tacocat!”—smash smash smash—“Tacocat!”—smash smash smash.  While the original lyric bemoans an imitator (“Copycat!”), Greenwell’s lyrical nod to their tour-mates ironically put the shoe on the other foot and demonstrated what has now become a nationwide phenomenon:  A female-led punk movement is brewing, and the feminist surf-punk quartet from Seattle is in the driver’s seat.

Not surprisingly for the young band out of Providence, it was the newest and currently unreleased songs played Friday night that showed the most maturity and promise. If those are any indication, that new album out August 28 is going to be one to watch.

On the heels of the aggressive opening set, Tacocat’s fun blend of sixties pop and surf rock showed just how broad the punk scene stretches. Radio-friendly “oohs,” peppy drumbeats, and classic major-key chord progressions make for songs that at first blush may seem like closer cousins to bubblegum pop than punk rock. Then again, were The Ramones really so far from The Monkees? “I hate to blow the mystique,” Joey Ramone once told an interviewer, “but at the time we really liked bubblegum music.” (Ramone even went on to refer to the “Hey! Ho! Let’s go!” chant from “Blitzkrieg Bop” as “our version” of “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y! Hey!” from the chart-topping teenage pop song “Saturday Night.”)

The return to pop-punk roots is paying off for the Seattle rockers. A sold-out room greeted Tacocat on Friday, with an age-diverse audience that speaks to the band’s generation-spanning appeal. It turns out whether you grew up in the heyday of The Ramones or just found them digging through your parents’ record collection, that original formula of sixties pop with distortion and rebellious lyrics still packs a punch.

In particular, the early Beach Boys influence shines through and gives Tacocat some of their strongest material; “Bridge to Hawaii,” “I Love Seattle,” and “Crimson Wave”—the latter two which closed out Friday’s set—all bottle that summer fun-in-the-sun vibe and sprinkle in a little punk edge with top-notch results. When not in the beachy mood, the band makes room for guitarist Eric Randall to take a bigger role, incorporating a sort of Foo Fighters brand of hooky rhythm lines.  The opening riff of “Talk” and the descending guitar break on Friday’s encore “I Hate the Weekend,” for example, effectively draw in nineties pop-punk elements before darting back into the retro feel.