If Kurt Cobain had grown up on a steady diet of Fugazi, Texas Is The Reason and Quicksand rather than the Melvins, he still wouldn't have had the talent to pull off an album as complex as In Itself's The Constellations EP. Hard-hitting riffs are intertwined with intricate melodies, coupled with a pulsating rhythm section that works its own brand of magic and allowed to propel a strong vocal melody forward throughout the course of the EP.

Vocalist Christopher Hodge manages to immediately capture the listener's attention with his passionate croon and poetic lyrics; when his voice seems to drift into the background at points, you'll feel yourself strain just to make sure you get the lyrics memorized. Meanwhile, Paul DeLuca weaves intricate, often intoxicating, guitar melodies with heavy riffs reminscient of Slip-era Quicksand while Paul Hein's creeping basslines slink around in the background and meld flawlessly with Andrew Confortini's solid and flawless drumming over the course of six well-crafted songs.

These guys seem to be writing indie rock for post-hardcore fans or perhaps post-hardcore for indie rock fans; either way, this quartet manages to pull it off and rather well at that. The amazing thing is they can pull it off live without losing any of the record's quality; great things are a certainty in this band's future so jock this now so you can brag about how cool you were "back then."