4 out of 5

Label: Gringo Records

Produced by: Part Chimp (?)

Don’t hate me, but I often forget about Part Chimp, and particularly how good they are at what they do, which is… rocking. I think that’s why I forget about them: they’re a rock band, and there’s not some extra explanatory bit to hang a review on. That’s what they do, and they do it extremely well, and they’ve kind of been doing it in the background, consistently, for several years.

So I put on this 7″ with a bit of “oh, right, Part Chimp” lack of expectation, and then found myself positively shocked by how much it rocks, and pledge to not forget Part Chimp again.

A-side You Decide is an all-timer: one of those tunes that builds and builds to a point where you’re sure you’ve hit the climax, and then the group just pushes it even further in the next verse. B-side’s Big Bird instrumental is a bit more workmanship – just sort of quality headbanging through and through, not so much peaks and valleys – but in both cases, the group’s preference for a very raw recording style ups the effectiveness of this even more, with the guitars and bass carved from harsh stone, the drums slamming the beat into existence, and the vocals delivered in a hurried, aggressive shout… all in the service of out and out rocking.