Fun street punk outing here—hard-hitting songs, high-energy vocalist, and a lead guitarist serving up some tasty licks. Nothing groundbreaking, but if you’re into stuff like STREET BRATS and early DROPKICK MURPHYS, you’ll dig this. Apparently the lead guitarist used to play with RIVER CITY REBELS, and while I can’t find which era he belonged to, they’re a good comparison point as well.
Long-running pop punk New Englanders RIVER CITY REBELS return with a new four-track EP that’s brimming with cultural and societal critique, just as they’ve been doing since the turn of the millennium. Tracks like “Rock a Cross” and “Unless You’re White” are outward-looking indictments that could be about one specific person or a broad gesture to half the damn country. The big payoff on this record is the closing track “Abuse Myself.” Here, the critique turns inward and we are treated to a sub-90-second scorcher. Ending with the mirror flipped on themselves, RIVER CITY REBELS remind you what can happen to yourself, perhaps as a byproduct of the dumpster fires happening all around you.
