BRUCE! ‘The EP’ Review

Words Alexandra Ferrier

I tell you, there’s something in the waters of Wollongong. The boys of BRUCE! have headed back to ‘The Womb’, their nifty titled recording studio, to create sweet, sweet Darwin-esq punk rock evolution in the form of their latest release ‘BRUCE! The EP!’

Aptly described as a ‘unit’, the title fits, as BRUCE! deliver a hard hitting EP off the back of their debut self-titled 2012 album ‘BRUCE!’. Their latest offering is mixed by legendary engineer / producer Jonboy Rock (think Hard-Ons and Front End Loader fame, man!) and it’s an EP that, had it human features and body parts, would grab you by the collar, shove a cigarette and beer in your gob and demand: “You have exactly nine minutes and twenty eight seconds to rock the fuck out!” The EP is ruthless and doesn’t give you any chance to be complacent. Nor does it give a shit about any pre conceived notions you may have. You WILL listen to it and you WILL fucking enjoy it…

Each song is written by a member of the band. The opening track Shapes and Numbers takes Bruce Brindle Jones’ drumming levels straight to the equaliser and right into your knee caps. Next up is bassist Bruce Armstrong’s ‘mid air collision sky shanty’ Captain, an acute description of the EP’s cover. It depicts a zombie-fied ‘Captain Love’, emerging from the mud and blood of a plain wreckage, designed by the one and the only surf, skate and rock illustration wizard Ben Brown (the dude is a graphic legend with a pen sword). Sludge, the song baby of Bruce Curley, is the EP’s longest track at an epic 4:23 minutes. And it is exactly that! Sludge; deliciously slow, lyrically intense and super sticky. Glorious sludge. Last, but certainly not least, guitarist Bruce Brady depicts forlorn love gone awry with Shit Sells, a little ‘fuck you’ anthem.

‘BRUCE! The EP!’ is proof that big things come in small, limited edition coloured vinyl packages from coastal New South Wales. Jump on it and be sure your tray is secured in an upright position and your emergency exists are to the front, middle and rear of the plane. Thank you for flying BRUCE! Airways. You’re in for a hell of a ride.

The digital release is available now HERE through Bandcamp with the vinyl due out around September with 100 black and 100 limited edition colours. Also check out their glow in the dark limited edition hoodie (pictured) complete with Ben Brown art from the release.