Some bands sound like they were meant to be — the sum of their parts is so strong, you can’t imagine their music not existing. This is how I feel about Toronto trio Lioness, a powerhouse dance-rock project whose parts happen to include the former rhythm section of controller.controller — bassist Ronnie Morris and drummer Jeff Scheven — and vocalist Vanessa Fischer of now-defunct soul punks No Dynamics.

Both of those bands were widely adored for their ability to draw crowds from a variety of scenes, but dance-punk buzz band controller.controller had, in particular, surprised and saddened fans two years ago when they announced that they were parting ways.

“I think the thing about being a band, especially in Canada, is that touring is really hard,” offers the soft-spoken Morris. “We really did burn out.”

During the controller.controller days, high-school buddies Morris and Scheven had talked about “doing something that’s just pure dance — bass and drums, with none of the guitar-rock stuff,” says the bassist. Given that Scheven and Fischer are a couple who’d also discussed making music together, the three came together naturally. The chemistry between them is audible. But will Lioness suffer from comparisons to earlier projects or feel pressure to arrive fully formed?

“It actually hasn’t been as much of an issue as I expected it to be,” chuckles Morris. “It’s one of those things where you realize that music is so fashion-driven that if you were in a band two years ago, most of the people buying music and going to shows now haven’t heard of you. They were in high school then. Although, judging by some of the feedback, some people do think it sounds like a controller.controller record, only without the guitars. That’s been one of the most common criticisms, and it’s been a really frustrating one, like ‘Oh, it’s 2003 again.’”

While there is a signature sound to how Morris and Scheven play and Fischer’s voice is remarkable, such comparisons are shortsighted. Lioness positively growl with a richer, tougher and leaner dance edge. Their grooves are more pronounced, with Morris pounding out incredible bass hooks over Scheven’s beats while Fischer’s heart-stopping vocals soar. She also plays a mean synth.

I became an instant fan upon following a link to the Lioness MySpace page and hearing the single “You’re My Heart.” Now it’s finally available on the self-titled EP that Lioness recorded last December with producer Rob Sanzo.

“When we first started, we were just going to try and do something super cheap, as a demo, and record it over a couple of days live off the floor,” says Morris. “It didn’t turn out like that at all. We ended up spending a lot of money on it and we were in there, on and off, for most of that month. Part of it was because it was the last project that Rob was going to be doing at Signal to Noise and I think he was considering retiring at that point — although now I think he’s still going to work, but freelance — so he was trying to put as much as he could into it.

“I think Rob started pulling out all the stops for it and we had a lot more time to play around so we recorded things in layers and did stuff that nobody does, certainly with bass guitar at least. In the past, I was always done recording my sessions in one evening for a full record and then they would do guitars for two weeks. I got my time,” he laughs.

It shows. The bass rattles and rouses, with the makeup of the band lending itself both to remixes — PilotPriest has created a strong reworking of “You’re My Heart” — and to playing shows alongside a wide variety of acts. To date, the versatile Lioness have shared stages with bands including You Say Party! We Say Die! and Hercules and Love Affair. Just don’t expect them to spend a lot of time on the road.

“For the 40 minutes you’re on stage, this is the best job in the world,” says Morris. “It’s just that the rest of the time can be really tough. We’re definitely going to do less mindless touring and try to make the shows we do play more of an event. We always enjoy it when gigs are much more of a party than just a performance.”