There is something about frantic, angry, dark punk rock which has always appealed to me. Sure, At The Drive In’s Cedric Bixler told the entire audience I was in that we, as a whole, needed to “stop listening to the radio and buy some fucking records!” (he didn’t offer to inspect said individuals’ record collections, either), but he sure wrote a damn good song. Rocket From The Crypt are undeniably brilliant. The Cramps, of course, were a key instigator of the whole thing. And now you can add The Scare to that list of bands.

The Brisbane six-piece only formed in early 2004, but you wouldn’t know it from the strength and professionalism of their debut five-tracker Masochist Mimes. Recorded with former Superheister D.W. Norton – also responsible for producing records for bands such as Toe To Toe, Mindsnare and Day Of Contempt – the EP is primarily concerned with “survival, outta control love and mysteries of the night.”

Combining intricate guitar lines reminiscent of My Disco! with alternating vocals/screams from vocalist Luke Reid which stylistically recall the band’s influences The Icarus Line and The Blood Brothers, from the very beginning of opening track Stop!, it is clear that The Scare are here to rock. And rock they certainly do. The EP’s second track, Blood. Flooded. Vodka?No. (surely one of the titles of 2004) is a head crashing meeting of Interpol meets Hot Snakes frantic riffing, over which Reid howls “she said let’s dance, I said forget it.” Sick Lovers employs the sort of dual-vocalist assault that reminds me of Adelaide’s Love Like… Electrocution. Midnight Masochist Mimes is all detuned guitars until the fifty second mark when it kicks in, and slaps you in the face with its urgency. 128 Degrees In De-De-Death Valley (which may just beat Blood Flooded Vodka out of its “best title” victory) rounds the EP off, and before you know it, the 13 minutes have passed and the EP has finished. Having not seen the band live before (though most certain to catch their next Melbourne show), I can only imagine how this material would be live – and even if they only go halfway in reproducing the recorded songs in a live environment, it would still be a great sight.

In short, this is one of the most promising Australian releases I have heard in a while, and succinctly describes how this band has managed to nab supports with such luminaries as Les Savy Fav/Pretty Girls Make Graves, Pink Grease and AlexisOnFire in little under a year. If you’re a fan of Drive Like Jehu, Alkaline Trio, My Disco, Love Like… Electrocution or The Mint Chicks, mark The Scare as a band to watch, and get your hands on a copy of this. It’ll be worth it.