Gritty street punk and hardcore have a long and storied history in Boston, and bands like Street Dogs, Darkbuster, and Dropkick Murphys have helped solidify the city’s reputation for working class anthems and beer-soaked swagger. The Black Cheers fit right in with these Beantown legends stylistically, as evidenced by their first full-length Sick Gun, released in the summer of 2015.

On Sick Gun, you can clearly pick out the band’s influences. There’s certainly a connection to be made to the Boston scene, but also to classic groups like Cock Sparrer or The Ramones. “Inside Out,” the second track on the album, actually sounds like it could be a Ramones song with it’s chanting vocals and simplistic riff. It’s also the shortest track on an album where the longest caps off at a mere three minutes. The production on the album is relatively rough, which lends a gritty and intense feeling. This suits The Black Cheers’ musical approach, although it doesn’t quite capture the ferocity of their live performance.

Each of the songs on this record illustrate that The Black Cheers have a serious need for speed. Driven by pounding drums and some solid, but occasionally exceptional bass lines (see “Use Up”) the band careens ahead and never really slows down much. That’s why the few times they do drop the tempo, like on the space-y reverb intro to “Take My Head,” the track immediately stands out. On “Take My Head” the intro slowly builds the tension, making the release of aggressive guitar and raucous shouting that follows seem all the more satisfying.

Aside from a couple of standout moments, Sick Gun is mostly just a solid punk rock record that fits well in the Boston street punk niche. It’s gritty and intense, but just doesn’t have much variety. For The Black Cheers, songs like “Take My Head” are a promising sign that they can take things to the next level by experimenting with dynamics and tempo.