Cain Marko organize a tightly wound orgcore-leaning group of influences--sounds like a hefty portion of Small Brown Bike circa Our Own Wars with teency bits of Braid and maybe Jawbreaker--for their self-titled EP that results in a solid and actually kinda unique offering. It's a relatively simple sound with a few worthwhile flares here and there.

"The Crew Manifesto" starts off mixing distorted and cleaner guitars well, adding a sort of abrasive poppiness to a jaunty, throaty sing-along. There's a few real glimmers of dynamism in here, though, and they seem to promise something way greater and bolder down the line. Nonetheless, it's a solid opener, while "A Lifetime of Hangovers" has this one part that reminds me exactly of that bridge in the Ghost's "Gem, Mint Ten." The first five or six seconds of "Fighting the Ocean" also sounds just like that opening riff of Champion's "Promises Kept," but that's probably even more of a coincidence, especially since it launches this one into more of the rugged, gravelly punk and vocal trade-offs you'd expect from them after the EP's first three songs. "Old Bones of a Young Man" throws in a few fleeting gang vocal moments that give it a nice punch, although the song does pretty well otherwise, anyway.

Real solid.

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Cain Marko EP