EP II is Thee Hearses second release, and first physical release, following their digital-only EP which you can find on Bandcamp. It’s almost impossible to discuss the band’s furious synthpunk sound without referencing The Screamers, arguably the defining band of the genre. The sometimes spastic—but constantly driving synth and drums of every track on EP II—has echoes of The Screamers on “122 Hours of Fear,” meeting the best of ’80s video game-influenced chiptunes. Rather than the raw, guttural screaming of Tomata du Plenty, Thee Hearses have a lot of Devo-esque sing/talking. The tongue-in-cheek B-movie imagery in the lyrics heighten the Devo comparisons. The result is a fabulous blend of some of my favorite weird punk sounds into my favorite new band of 2022 so far. –Paul J. Comeau (Tetryon Tapes)