Made up of repeat offenders who've done time in some of the most volatile hardcore outfits (American Nightmare/Give Up The Ghost, Unbroken, the Locust, more), Some Girls are far more precocious than their all-vet lineup implies. Their debut album isn't as thrashy as their earlier EPs, but it's still as unforgiving as a brick to the teeth. Frontman Wes Eisold's vitriolic spew is reinforced with schizoid riffing and grand mal rhythmic seizures, recalling arty San Diego spazz-core archetypes Heroin and (another one of bassist Justin Pearson's old flings) Swing Kids. The chaos isn't without its fair share of mosh either. The posi '88 youth crew sound has been aped to death in recent years so it's refreshing to hear a fast, metal-free hardcore band take cues from something other than the early Revelation catalog. Considering most Some Girls songs are about a minute long, contemplating how they could experiment with their present style is about as exciting as thinking of new ways to smash a person's face in.

- MATTHEW FIELD
www.cmj.com