Up until a few months ago, mentioning Bay Area rockers The Donnas in the face of the general listening public didn’t garner much of a reaction. Nowadays, as their stock climbs and their music video for “Take it Off” plays more and more on MTV, mentioning their name gets an emphatic groan of delight from the average listener, males being the most enthusiastic.

And why blame them? The Donnas are fun, attractive, and better still, on their way to Sacramento State.

The all-female power rock band, which was formed in San Francisco in the mid-’90s, were huge favorites in the independent rock world for the first few years of the band’s existence. Recently, however, they’ve reached new heights of popularity and mainstream success, and it seems they’ve only scratched the surface.

With the release of their Atlantic debut album “Spend The Night,” The Donnas have put themselves on the map. In fact, the band is fresh off performing on NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and “Saturday Night Live,” as well as garnering the covers of magazines like “YM” and “Guitar World.” Their hit single “Take It Off” has been taking off on the radio, and most recently has been featured in Budweiser commercials.

Through it all, the band remains humble and doesn’t forget their independent roots. Like back in 2000, when they released “The Donnas Turn 21” on an indie label and still received national critical praise, or when they played tiny clubs up and down the Bay Area.

“We did the whole Bay Area,” said singer Brett Anderson. “The Plant (in Sausalito, CA) was probably our favorite-it’s super-comfortable, there’s a lot of history there and Friday is cookie day. How can you go wrong with that?”

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