3 out of 5

Label: Equal Vision Records

Produced by: Kurt Ballou (mixed by)

Hardcore punk rock from “that guy from Deadguy and ex members of other bands you lie about having seen live,” Bitter Branches’ two song single delivers the goods in a way rather fitting of that copy from the single’s hype sticker: it absolutely rips, but also has a kind of yadda yadda hardcore vibe to it – it’s not quite a wholly standalone experience.

The A-side gets off to a terrifyingly menacing start, Tim Singer shouting a single lyrical line that builds, word by word, and when the momentum fully kicks in, you’re definitely rocking along. But the lyrics and music both never quite deliver on that initial buildup – the momentum doesn’t lead anywhere, necessarily – and once the track falls back on a reading off of lyrics (not shouting, not singing, just talking), it feels like the group giving up on finding any ante up, and the tune ends.

Backer fraudulent is a straight ahead charge, energized by some excellent lyrics that give some shouty emphasis to the chorus. Not a lot of nuance on the track overall, but a super solid performance.

Deadguy is a good reference, though a few tics lower on the punk vector, and closer to something like Nomeansno.