Californian hardcore unit No Bragging Rights are back with a new self-titled EP which comes after a six-year long hiatus. Albums such as Illuminator, Cycles and The Concrete Flower made the quartet a main-stay of the hardcore scene across the states. Now they will be looking to pick up where they left off with their returning EP.
The self-titled EP leads with opener “Strengths Perspective” and the hardcore sound is evident from the get-go. The pounding grooves on the drum, the soaring cleans and the gang vocals swirling around the record are all present. It’s exactly the sort of song that is to be shouted back by the crowd at live shows in amongst the stage diving to the chugging guitars. Closing out with the aforementioned gang vocals of “Strength always finds a way“, the theme of what is come to is laid out clearly.
There is a visceral power across the following tracks; “Walking Blind” examining addiction, abusive relationships in “Breaking Point” or looking back at the past with “Regret“. It wears these themes on its sleeve with no shame or backing down, lines such as “Your life is not measured by someone” spell out the inspiration that No Bragging Rights are aiming for here. All of this is wrapped in some excellent vocal melodies from Perez and blistering riffs from guitarists Garrow and Laur.
The EP remains within the arguably limited sound throughout the seven-song tracklist, which is a generous amount for an EP. It would be harsh to try and find fault here, there is a lot to enjoy and take from from the self-titled record. However now that No Bragging Rights have still proved they’ve got it, when they hopefully return for their next full-length they could look to truly bring their sound into the new decade and add new elements within this.
Coming back from a six year hiatus and being able to offer up an inspiring EP which is full of all the hardcore bite that is expected from the genre is a commendable effort. Across its run time of just under 25 minutes, the self-titled EP has plenty of stories of life’s struggles for listeners to take solace and hope in. The ability to do it in a manner that isn’t too on the nose is also noteworthy. For those looking to delve back into No Bragging Rights, they will feel right at home. For those looking for some fresh hardcore as we close out 2021, they may have to wait a bit longer.
No Bragging Rights is set for release on December 3rd via Pure Noise Records.
7/10