The Men do a severely fuzzed-out, angry garage punk that sort of envisions the Wipers growing up on '80s noise-hardcore. We Are the Men is their given debut, a 12" EP featuring a quartet of beguilingly long, rock'n'roll-tinged tracks that demand a little patience but reward a bit with chugging guitars and a scowling flicker of dynamics.

The trio often have a rhythmic bash to what they do and it's very apparent in opener "Hated." There's only a couple of verklempt shouts, and then the band get into a consistent mode to take the 4:32 song out to its death. "Ailment" is a six-minute seether, squawking and stuttering with some off-kilter, Flipper-esque mannerisms before distorted snarls and shouts over-top a pulsating bassline and filthy, key-avoiding riffs get a solid groove going. It's surprisingly compelling as long as it is.

Over on the flipside, the band give another of their three members a chance to take the vocal lead, this time for "The Man." It's a sudden jolt of diversity that does the record well, while closer "Sketchy Pussy" might have the most energy and urgency of the whole thing. The buildup/collapse seems like it's going before the song's practically even started (the song's only lyric: "How do you make love in a digital age? / There's no way"), but it somehow works.

Definitely a grower, to be sure, but this is a very cool debut.

DOWNLOAD
We Are the Men