Boxer

Undertow (2012)

SaladFingers

If you like punk rock, and haven't checked out Boxer before, I strongly recommend that you do. Self-released in February and recently picked up by Reveille Records in the U.S., their new E.P. Undertow is a stampede through five tracks of fast, passionate punk rock lasting a mere 13 minutes. What a great 13 minutes, though.

Track one, "Anagram," kicks us off with raw vocals, catchy guitar hooks and chunky bass and drum combinations, setting the tone for the rest of the record. What follows does not disappoint. "Homesick" and "20/20" hold up the standard set, where "Lost Cause" (possibly my favorite track) leaps the mark and is even more furious than its predecessors. "Medicine Cabinet" gives us the same abrasive vocals, but because of the backing vocals in the chorus it sounds fuller. It feels like what has been an unrelenting musical force on display throughout the E.P. has reached its plateau and it rounds off the record nicely.

No loose ends are left and it doesn't sound "unfinished," like there should be more. Although, really, I wish there was, because its quality stuff and I can't wait to hear more from them.