Amy Pate welcomes you to “Hell” with new E.P.

Amy Pate has plenty to say, but she doesn’t say it.

She snarls, bellows and growls it.

“This. Is. The American dream,” the Candy Warpop singer thunders as saxophone and guitar make like cat and dog, warring loudly for turf.

Her words come out of her like demons being exorcised, delivered with wrath.

The song is “Sunday in Hell,” a biting commentary on what Pate perceives to be a society numbed by consumerism, technology and the need fit in.

It’s the title track of the band’s bristling, forceful new E.P., on which the indie quartet focuses its restless energy on making a direct statement.

“Overall, the album is just about being yourself, embracing your identity in a world where you might feel pressure to adhere to certain social standards,” says Pate, surrounded by band gear and books in the living room of guitarist Joshua Cohen’s home, where they practice. “It’s about being eccentric, stepping outside of the box.”

“Sunday In Hell” also features a trio of cover tunes, but they’re not tacked on at the end nor do they feel like bonus tracks or novelties.

Instead, they’re interspersed with the band’s new songs, and there’s a thematic bridge between them.

The Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now?” a song about loneliness and alienation from a male perspective, feels like a companion piece to Warpop’s breezy-then-bruising “Everywhere She Goes,” which addresses many of the same feelings from a female viewpoint.

Similarly, Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit,” about attaining altered states of perception and consciousness, and Velvet Underground’s “Venus In Furs,” a tale of dominance and submission in the context of desire, fit within the E.P.’s overarching theme of questioning social norms.

The band makes all three tunes its own.

On “How Soon Is Now?” for instance, the song’s trademark, heavily reverbed guitar line is played by Jonas Woolverton on bass, freeing Cohen to add color and texture while drummer Anisa Marie, a heavy hitter clad in a Tool T-shirt on this Sunday afternoon, enlivens “Furs” with more adventurous playing.

Taken together, “Sunday in Hell” feels more of-a-piece than the band’s diffuse 2013 debut “Transdecadence,” but Cohen cautions not to read too much into that.

“Yes, it’s more of a concise statement,” he says. “But it’s not the final statement as to what Candy Warpop is.”

“We’re flexible in the band,” Woolverton adds. “We can follow whatever divergent path that might lead somewhere interesting.”

Still, “Sunday,” which the band will celebrate with a release show at the Bunkhouse on Thursday, seems like a formative moment for the Candy Warpop, especially Pate.

She’s lost her qualms and found her voice.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.