Youthful energy and exuberance is something to be revered. Not all bands who exhibit those qualities are capable of writing decent music, but when they can, it's something to watch out for. New York's own upstarts 5FI have dropped an EP brimming with great rhythms, an urgent sound, and extremely solid gang vocals.
It only takes four songs and twelve minutes, but the band immediately establishes their unapologetically raw but musically tight sound. Punk at its core, the hardcore influence is obvious not only as far as the gang vocals, which are a highlight of the EP, but also in the sounds of guitar and a lot of the vocal delivery. 5FI vocalist Rich Marin has a deep but powerful voice that lends itself perfectly to the style of music being played; it couldn't fit better. Full of urgency and conviction, he blazes through all four tracks with unwavering sincerity. The first track, "Night of the Living Dumb," shows a band wasting no time to display their songwriting abilities, with a great rhythm and the almost immediate inclusion of those strong gang vocals, before a slick bridge from bassist Mike Natoli leads into a short but wicked guitar solo.
The rest of We Are in the Midst of a Culture War... does not disappoint either.
"Disestablished Scene" is probably the best song found on the EP, with lightning quick guitar work and a fair amount of a variety that's not otherwise present on the rest of this EP. There's some singing to accompany the normal shouted vocals, as well as some screamed parts that will make you hear the lining being ripped from the walls of his throat. The singing can be considered a minor weak point, but as stated in the proceeding song, "We're Fucked," "along for the ride, we don't have, much of a choice / the one thing we do have is our fucking voice!," that voice is used for a lot more bad than good here, and the rest of the music only accentuates that. The great instrumentation is present on every song, and every member of the band has ample time to show their contributions with their respective instruments. But most importantly, they gel extremely well together, giving both individual songs and the EP as a whole a real fluid sound.
5FI is a band with all the talent they'll need to bring great opportunities their way, and the perfect voice to make people listen.