Clocking in at just a hair under 12 minutes, the self-titled debut from Vancouver 4-piece hardcore act Baptists alternately pummels and grooves. An interview with a local music mag told the interesting story of how this EP came to be. The band formed in early 2010 and within a month or two recorded a handful of songs before the drummer went to tour with his other band. Enter Southern Lord Records, who contacted the band through MySpace to express interest. A year later, those four songs written and recorded in the band's infancy make up this debut 7". Interestingly, the band is not (yet) signed to the label, but instead the 7" is being put out as a one-off for now.

Four songs in 12 minutes give a good sense of what the band is all about. Feedback squeals introduce "Good Parenting" before lashing out with frenetic drums, guitar, and shouts. The hoarse shouts in particular lend to the urgency - throughout the CD the vocals sound as though he has already been screaming for days and still has more to get out. The song trails back off into feedback to lead into "Farmed," which settles back into a groove in a few places just to counter the full steam ahead pounding. "Bachelor Degree Burn," the longest song at 4:25, aims for a slower, heavier plod, although it still retains the sense of urgency. Closer "Life Poser" brings the pace back up and takes the set out on a high note, even drawing things back a bit before going all out for the last 30 seconds. Raging and to the point, this is everything straight up hardcore should be. Check it out.