Imagine driving back and forth from The Fest. Not flying. Driving. Up and down the East Coast... anywhere from 15 to 17 hours. Wait. Who am I kidding? We've all done it, right?

But imagine doing one of these drives with one 4-song EP that you found on the bar at Palomino's Pool Hall, looping over and over. Adding a couple hours of sleep at a cold, snowy rest stop in a cramped car. Enjoying it enough to get on your smart phone, look up a booking contact, and emailing the band about playing your dirty little house venue an hour outside of a semi-major city.

That's how I met The Moms.

I won't get into how they were three or four hours late and drank all of my mom's Budweiser. That's another story.

"Blow Me" starts off this 11-minute blast of refreshing, gruff punk rock. If recording this release was anything like their live performances, I don't know how they do it. I'm surprise their vocal chords can survive through an entire tour! This tracks could easily be a big live staple

Blow Me is a four-song digital EP released on Paper + Plastick, serving as a prequel for their upcoming full-length that was a pleasant surprise on a day at the office that left me begging for a beer by lunchtime. And after a few listens, I wanted a few. But in the best way possible. Like, gang vocals and beers and big choruses. Get it? If you've listened to The Moms before, this seems to be the natural progression from their Viva! EP they self-released and left sitting all around Gainesville last Halloween. And they still hate cops.

The difference is, this album is a bit heavier and there's some more solid riff-age, without getting too ridiculous. Check out song #2 - "NJ Transit Blues" - which sounds like the more pissed off older brother of Train Station from Viva! Bonus points for Donny Saracenco's shuffle beat. The fourth track, "Front Row Tickets to the Cockfight," gives Joe a break and hands vocals over to bass player Jon Stolpe, who's just as pissed off and delivers his own unique style to the release. "Sorry Stranger" bounces up and down the fretboard without getting too heavy, but it's still a refreshing change from four-chord punk rock.

But holy shit, for B-sides, The Moms are killing it! The gruff-vocals-with-melodic-punk thing may be a subject covered a little too often over here, but this release is so refreshing. The three b-sides accompanying Blow Me are all pretty different in their own way. Old fans should be stoked, and new listeners should definitely give this a few listens.

If this digital EP is at all a representation of what's to come on their upcoming full-length, I'm stoked. Plus, three out of the four songs are B-sides! That means it only gets better from here, right?! 2014 is the year of The Moms. I'd like to think that they'll fit in quite well with the org-core family. Go see them live and give 'em a beer. Not sure if this'll get a proper release, but it's solid.