by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
It’s been about two months since Smirk released their full length album, LP, and just one month since the release of Smirk & Friends Spring Mixxxtape arrived. Which is to say… I guess it’s about time for another release from Nick Vicario (Crisis Man, Public Eye), and sure enough, there’s one on the way. The once again informatively titled EP, is seven new songs that find Smirk doing what they do best, making agitated punk that feels both jittery and anxious. Due out soon via Total Punk Records (Predator, Brandy, ISS), it’s full of rippers that take the piss out of everyday life with jagged guitars and feral distortion.
Lead single “Starting at Screens” is a story we all know too well, the absurd dependency on computer, phone, and television screens that have gripped the most of us. The song packs a tight rhythm that moves in time with the detached guitars, setting a pace for Vicario to wander around into electronic twirls and one-note riffs that tear over the motorik rhythm. Its punk in the vein of Uranium Club or Silicone Prairie, awash into a tin reverb that gives the vocals an alien quality as he laments the “divine comedy.”