Glass Candy’s been through more stylistic upheavals than I can possibly keep track of. Not that I’d be a good person to track that progression anyways; my sole exposure to the Portland group’s work is three songs that bookend their nearly decade-long career. 2007’s “Miss Broadway” appears on the Italo disco compilation After Dark, an album that sits somewhere in a huge “listen to this sometime so you know what the kids are on about” pile. Like so many niche genres invented before I was born, Italo disco is a cipher to me; aside from a couple of names propping up the style’s recent revival, I can’t tell you a damned thing about it. So in terms of explaining Glass Candy’s career, I’m a dismal failure; I can’t even describe to you the greater context of the band’s current work.

What I can offer you instead is a look into the group’s distant past, back when electroclash was just beginning to gain traction thanks to the likes of Ladytron. Back then the group was called Glass Candy and the Shattered Theatre, a name that I guess became too unwieldy over the years. “Brittle Women” appears on the band’s first album, 2003’s Love Love Love, but by then Glass Candy had already changed its sound. Re-recorded for the album, the 2003 version of “Brittle Women” sounds like a darker, tortured Blondie tribute. When originally recorded in 1999, “Brittle Women” was a lot less subtle and exuded less of that glam coolness. Instead of channelling Debbie Harry, singer Ida No takes a more theatrical, half-shouted approach, to arguably greater effect. The rest of the band sounds more garage than new wave, too; but then could you ever imagine glossy new wave on Portland indie label K Records?

The gritty agitprop garage punk sound is worlds away from the slick euro synthesizers of Glass Candy circa 2007. Now that the band have found a comfortable niche—members of the band also assist with Italo disco luminaries the Chromatics, as well as having a hand in After Dark’s production—it’s unlikely the early part of Glass Candy’s career will ever gain much attention except for a brief biographical mention. As historical footnotes go, though, “Brittle Women” has more attitude and verve than most.