3 out of 5

Label: Skin Graft Records

Produced by: Tommy Meehan

Sporting groovy scare masks and bondage-adjacent attire, kickin’ out two minute tracks for an album length of less than 20 minutes, featuring guests from bands like Nekrogoblin and Melt-Banana and – most tellingly – appearing on Justin Pearson’s Sweatband Records, Squid Pisser are clearly here to grindcore terrify us.

The group’s brew, as stirred by manic guitarness from Tonmy Meehan, and sputtering drums from Seth Carolina (with an occasional assist from John Clardy), is absolutely The Locust adjacent: fast paced spazzy thrash and growls. The special sauce Squid brings is a dollop of poppiness to the mix, occasionally reminding of a more blitzkrieg Mindless Self Indulgence, or applying the groove of prime Racebannon. The application of this is tight, though not exactly original: the mix from Kurt Ballou gives the music a very burly lowend, and I like that the lyrics – though puerile – seem to have a point beyond crassness (when they’re decipherable), but the band comparisons above are rather evidence of how we’ve heard stuff like this before. Granted, maybe not splattered altogether, but Squid Pisser are just lacking some extra note of extremity that would make them standout; a clearer identity that’s underlined by their shifting in styles somewhat to match that track’s guest star.

Benefit of the short runtime, though: while you’re puzzling out your own feelings on the album, it’s easy enough to just keep hitting play to give it another go.