Back back back back back back back back back back and goneeeeee!

Another home run for Panic Records. Their latest success comes to us from the Swedish-bred When We Fall, and their dynamite EP A Cry in Despair. Everything from their prepositional name to terrible album art, to the Fisher-Price emo album title would hint at a band with nothing at all to offer. How wrong that is.

Cosmetic missteps aside, this EP is five songs of super-charged rage and unrelenting passion. Yeah, I know, you've heard that kind of description in regards to hardcore a hundred times before. And there's probably a hundred bands that sound just like When We Fall, with no real discernable differences. Well, I hope so anyhow, because then I'll have 99 new bands to check out that I know will fucking rule.

Now, meandering back to the point of the matter, what this five-piece lacks in originality they make up for with a terrific amount of what is the lifeblood of hardcore -- energy. Lots and lots of energy. One listen to a track like "You Made Me Wrong" lets you know immediately this is a band that has to be seen live. They've just got it. Their frenzied sound is a whirlwind of excitement, for lack of a better way to phrase it. You cannot help but tap your foot, bob your head, and drum on any hard surface that's around. Even without knowing the lyrics, it's easy to get swept up in the intensity. When the guitars cut out in "Fraction of Distress," and the vocalist is just screaming over a simple drum beat, it's breathtaking. The way the guitarists play off each other is equally impressive, as the combination of clean and distorted riffing is worked flawlessly. No matter how heavy or intense the songs become, there's a fluid and melodic undercurrent sweeping through at the very same time.

I have to say, I'm absolutely loving the bands that Panic has been putting out lately, and When We Fall is certainly no exception.

It's pretty early in the year, but if the label keeps this up, they'll be headed straight for the triple crown.