Earlier in 2004, I had the pleasure to discover Bullet Treatment on Basement Records, and this time, this EP from Cut Shallow also offered more than the usual listening pleasure.

In fact, this band hailing from Whittier, CA, sounds a bit less filthy and angry and includes more guitar melody, more variety and complexity in their songs, but the spirit in the recordings is quite similar, which means you'll get basic punk rock recordings without the studio enhancements that suck out all the spirit that should come from a punk release. Fierce drum parts and attacking guitars are topped by vocals that might not always sound squeaky clean, but at least they are grabbing and sincerely laid out. You'll even get a few growls in "The Device." The backing vocals, though, could sound a bit less timid through the release.

It's hard to really point out what this band could be compared to; at times I had the impression there's some Good Riddance guitarwork in it, especially in the first two songs, while in a song like "Far From Perfect" you could hear resemblance to an All/Descendents or Hüsker Dü song. Furthermore, I noticed some influences from more contemporary bands, even pop-punk stuff as in "When Our Hearts Are Wicked" (my favorite) or "Turning Dials." It's definitely not always full-throttle punk rock, as you'll get some dragging (or call it tension-building) parts in a few songs reminding one of Jawbreaker, and that doesn't really do any harm to the fact that these seven songs sound ballsy enough to make me want to hear a lot more from these guys.