If you go ..

WHO: Hayley and the Crushers, Drifting Thing and Alex Wilson Band

WHEN: 8 p.m. today

WHERE: Westside Bowl, 2617 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: $10. Tickets are available through Eventbrite and at the door.

Moms always say that people will judge a person by their friends.

These days, Hayley and the Crushers are hanging with ’80s new wave / pop artist Josie Cotton and on a Go-Go’s tribute album with Fastbacks, The Romantics, The 5678s, E.G. Daily, Clem Burke of Blondie and an actual Go-Go (Kathy Valentine).

The Crushers, which started in California but recently moved to Detroit, will make its Youngstown debut tonight at Westside Bowl.

Lead singer and guitar player Hayley Crusher Cain connected with Cotton, who appeared in the 1983 film “Valley Girl” and had three songs on the soundtrack, when she interviewed her for Bust magazine.

In a telephone interview, Cain said she initially suggested the Crushers and Cotton releasing a 7-inch single together. “No, I want you to join my label,” was Cotton’s response. All of this happened around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our COVID time was actually pretty amazing,” at least professionally, Cain said.

The band recorded with producer Paul Roessler, who’s worked with Mike Watt, Nina Hagen, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Dead Kennedys, TSOL and Redd Kross. Mastering was handled by Mass Giorgini, who’s worked with Screeching Weasel, Squirtgun, The Queers, Anti-Flag and Rise Against.

“We were maybe on his radar already,” Cain said of Giorgini, “but having someone like Josie Cotton vouch for you, it helps … You believe in yourself, but when others start to take notice, that is priceless. I can never thank Josie enough for that.”

Three singles –“Cul-De-Sac,” “She Drives” and “Click and Act Now!” — have been released so far. The band, which also features Dr. Cain Esq. on bass and vocals and Action Ben Cabreana on drums, originally planned to release the full-length album this spring, but it’s now looking like late summer.

“We do a lot of vinyl, and that entire industry is really derailed (with pressing plant delays),” she said.

The Crushers’ sound has evolved since its 2016 debut “Jewel Case.” Songs like “Backseat Love” had a more retro sound, more “Southern Culture on the Skids” than buoyant, girl group pop / new wave, but even that album included a cover of the Go-Go’s “This Town,” so that influence always was there.

“Starting out, we definitely had more of a raw sound,” Cain said. “We still are that garage band that is going to blow out your speakers with super-fuzzy bass and shimmery, reverb guitar. But everyone in the band is a big fan of pop music, the pop of the ’80s.”

That love of pop extends further back to the “wall of sound” production Phil Spector bought to girl groups like The Ronettes.

“Any time we can add a glockenspiel, Dr. Cain is very interested,” she said.

The band’s sound on 2020’s “Vintage Millennial” and the recent singles make the Crushers a perfect fit for “If You Gotta Go-Go, Go-Go Now!,” a 24-track compilation released by Sympathy for the Record Industry (the CD is available through Bandcamp). The band covered “Lust to Love” for the project, conceived by Travis Ramin and approved by The Go-Go’s, and it recently released a video for the song.

“The Go-Go’s were extremely influential in my life, and I’m so excited to be a part of this,” Cain said. “There are so many great artists on there.”

While the band was able to do a lot of recording during the pandemic, the current run of shows is its first Midwest tour since 2019. And Cain compared the band members to vacuum cleaner salesmen in the sense that groups on their level build a fan base by bringing their music to the people.

“You lose a lot of momentum not being out on the road,” she said. “They’re not wearing our shirt, they’re not super-jazzed about the band and talking about the record if they didn’t go to that show.”