Pageripper's Facebook page describes the band as "a bunch of assholes from a rainy city." Well, I have heard that Portland, OR is a city that has a propensity towards being damp -- in fact it has more rainy days than most other cities in the USA. I cannot, however, find any evidence to prove or disprove whether the three members of the band are actually assholes, collectively or individually.

What I can say for certain is that this 7-inch contains five tracks of punchy, gruff melodic punk rock that contains bits of hardcore and even moments of more angular punk too; it's actually difficult to nail down an exact sound here, as it's quite varied, without losing sight of the end result. I'm also reminded a bit of Jason Shevchuk (None More Black, LaGrecia, Kid Dynamite) when listening to Brent Ault's vocals and, additionally, there are moments, however small, that bring to mind each one of those three bands when listening to this record.

Across all five tracks there is a sense of urgency bursting out, along with bags of energy and enthusiasm, making for an extremely strong debut release. There is a clear level of grit and power to what Pageripper is about, with the songs being driven along by a pulsating rhythm section and a thick and edgy guitar, joining together to build the songs into something my ears are more than pleased to receive.

The lyrical content tends towards the bleak with mention of blood and gunshots (found in the final track "Real Eyes / Real Lies") adding to that wretched feeling, but perhaps life in Portland brings out the desolation in people, although the tone of the words seem to be in contrast to the upbeat nature of the music, both of which come together to work very well to make a big impact.

I'd certainly put up with the rain to get the chance to call this a local band but I'd like to imagine that they're actually nice guys with a good line in self-deprecating humor.