The Pandoras, an LA-based female quartet from the 80s kicked some nice booty. I believe one of them is part of the Muffs now. Sadly, Pandoras’ recordings are hard to come by these days.
Minneapolis-based The Short Fuses are pretty good too.
pretend shock What? Two pages and no one’s yet mentioned Eddie From Ohio (www.eddiefromohio.com)? EFO, for the uninitiated, is a folk-rock quartet from Virginia (yes, Virginia) that spend their lives thinking up smart songs and performing them with musical godliness. They’re guitar-based (acoustic guitar, that is), backed with hand percussion, and fronted with one of the richest and loveliest female voices I’ve ever heard.
Check them out. They’re astonishing.