They used to be Cooter.

They also used to be not that good.

With the name change comes a kickass new sound, apparently.

I have all of Cooter's old stuff, and while it was enjoyable to listen to at the time, none of it was very memorable, and I have no desire to dig their CDs out of the boxes in my room.

This, on the other hand, has been in constant rotation in my CD player in the past month.

First and foremost, the production is top notch - from the opening chords of standout track "Long Way To Fall" to the closing feedback of "Wide Awake," the album sounds crisp and fresh. The major label backing has definitely paid off in that department.

The guitar interplay is pretty advanced for a band of this style - a lot of it is just trading barre chords in different frets, but it sounds *cool* doing it. The vocal harmonies are neat, too, but the downside to that is that singer Chris is just that - the only singer. So live, kiss those harmonies bye-bye.

Sure, the band's sound still ain't the most original sound in the world, but this EP is way more than a step in the right direction. These songs are catchy as hell punk rock. I wouldn't label it pop punk, or skate punk, or emo punk, or anything besides just good old punk rock. This is the EP you want to have blaring out of your car stereo driving down the highway to a show. I think I need to go dig out my old Cooter CDs to really make sure that they weren't this good all along and were just hiding it from me...

Sample the EP here