Playing Rough

When Jane Wiedlin was a member of the Go-Go’s in the early ‘80s, she came off as a perky, sweet-voiced innocent.

Nowadays, it’s not unusual to hear Wiedlin spitting out the occasional venom-laced lyric with her new pop-punk outfit, froSTed. Featuring a combustive instrumental sound, the group’s debut album, “Cold,” is much harder than the frothy but engaging pop hits that made the Go-Go’s a coast-to-coast sensation.

In the opening cut, “Dis-integrated,” Wiedlin sings over a bank of roaring guitars: “I just get drunk and think about the people I’d like to kill / Cuz look what being nice got me.”

No, Wiedlin hasn’t plunged off the emotional deep end. Still generally sweet-tempered, the singer, songwriter and guitarist said she’s just venting frustration over the vicissitudes of the record business as well as broadening the palette of human emotion she works from.

At first glance, it might appear as if the San Fernando Valley-raised musician is adjusting her career to fit current rock trends, which now favor more abrasive sounds and attitudes. But the 38-year-old artist said the musical direction of froSTed--the uppercase ST is a tribute to “Star Trek”--is not an attempt to hop on the bandwagon.

“I don’t really see [froSTed] as reinventing [myself],” Wiedlin said in a recent phone interview. “I see it as coming full circle because in 1978 when I started the Go-Go’s, it was a punk band,” which transformed into a pop group. “To me it was a natural thing that I was getting back to music I loved originally. It definitely made it easier” that punk rock has reached the mainstream through such groups as the Offspring and Green Day.

“I would have been more apprehensive if it wasn’t something a lot of people were responding to. But I’m not really calculated enough or trained enough as a musician or songwriter to create a style in order to please people. Ultimately, I just have to do what I like to do.”

Since the Go-Go’s broke up in 1984, Wiedlin, who plays Friday at the Coach House, has released three solo albums. “Fur,” in 1988, yielded a top-10 single in the infectious pop ditty “Rush Hour.” But her last album, 1990’s “Tangled,” left her bitter about the record industry.

It took two years to finish, and even after shooting what she termed an “extravagant” music video, EMI Records, Wiedlin said, never put its promotional muscle behind the album. It subsequently suffered a quick commercial death.

“It left such a bad taste in my mouth. It was, ‘I can’t handle this anymore.’ I know [losing label support] happens to people all the time and there’s nothing you can really do about it. Luckily, I had the [financial] luxury where I didn’t really have to do anything. Then after a couple of years of floating around, I started thinking about doing music again and started writing songs.”

Her sabbatical followed a Go-Go’s reunion in 1990, which found the band touring behind a greatest-hits collection. The group reconvened again to help put together a more expansive compilation, “Return to the Valley of the Go-Go’s.” The group recorded three new songs for that 1994 project and embarked on another tour.

Wiedlin clearly has a great appreciation for what the Go-Go’s accomplished, musically and sociologically.

“When you look back, we looked like these little fluff balls bouncing around on stage,” she said. “But we were trailblazers. When we meet other women musicians, they always tell us that.”

In the beginning, she said, “When we would go to record companies, they would tell us that there’s no way an all-girl band could be successful. No one would dare say that out loud today.”

The second Go-Go’s reunion energized Wiedlin to such a degree that she was willing to devote her full attention to the group on a long-term basis. But she said deep-rooted personality differences within the band ultimately prevented a more extended reunification. Wiedlin, however, remains close friends with Go-Go’s guitarist Charlotte Caffey, with whom she collaborated for four songs on “Cold.”

Reuniting with her old band mates did lead Wiedlin to the realization that she preferred being in a group to life as a solo artist.

“It’s just more fun, and it’s easier, because you have a bigger assortment of ideas--you’re not just relying on your own,” she said.

Wiedlin joked that she feels like the den mother in froSTed because the three other members--bassist Sean Demott, drummer Lance Porter and guitarist Brian Waters--are all in their mid-20s. After performances, Wiedlin said, she is ready for bed, while the rest of the band is often primed for a night on the town.

“Oh, I love them!” she said. “It’s really hard to find guys that play well, play a style you like, look good and [have personalities] that you can get along with. That’s why bands are always breaking up, because that combination is not that easy to find.”

So how does Wiedlin feel about playing in a band with a bunch of rambunctious males after a successful stint in an all-female group?

“I used to think when I was in the Go-Go’s that we were as wild as any of the boy bands,” Wiedlin said. “But now that I’m in a boy band, this is definitely crazier!”

* froSTed, August Burning, Spine and Fossie Snail appear Friday at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. $8. 8 p.m. (714) 496-8930.