Social Circkle

No Way Records is putting out `82 revival hardcore like it's no one's business. No Way's newest find is Social Circkle, a band from Massachusetts that owes a lot to Gang Green, Jerry's Kids, and the Freeze (surprise surprise). Of course, this means that the band gets things done loud, fast, and fun.

Now I haven't heard Social Circkle's previous releases, but the mighty interwebs tells me that this release contains much faster material than the band's previous recordings. I'm definitely all right with that, since the faster songs totally rip. While the band owes a lot to their early `80s predecessors, there are certainly hints of progression on the EP that keeps in the listener intrigued. While the group is far from delving into Fucked Up-style experimentation, a lot of the chord progressions sound at least somewhat different from the ones used by many of the band's predecessors. The lyrics are a perfect mix of anger, nihilism, and angst, and the delivery is perfectly pissed off -- angry, yet understandable. The EP clocks in at five-and-a-half minutes, which tells you something about the speed of the drumming, and it left me itching for more.

A lot of the `80s throwback bands receive the "it's already been done" complaint, and Social Circkle treads the thin line between influence and rip-off very carefully. But this EP leaves the band with a lot of room to expand and/or mature their sound a little before their next release. It looks like No Way has found yet another band to keep an eye on.