Album Reviews

On their first new material since 2021’s ‘Around The Sun,’ Chicago’s most adventurous punks Lurk don’t shy away from an experiment or two. Over the course of their latest EP, they pretty much throw everything but the kitchen sink at these six songs and somehow make it all stick.

Imagine Culture Abuse playing hardcore songs while bringing equally innovative elements to the genre like say, Turnstile or Militarie Gun. Does that sound ambitious for an EP? It is! But they pull it off masterfully.

Opening track ‘Natural Causes’ is an angsty and skittish tune that runs circles around you, while ‘1229’ packs the confident strut of a band like The Hives. ‘Dark Humor’ takes what could have been a grunge-y riff, but they keep it on a short leash before heaping all kinds of weirdness on top of it only to then let that fade away again just as quickly.

For a 6-song EP that clocks in at 20 minutes, there is an awful lot on offer. So much so that at the end of closing track ‘Pedestrian,’ you kinda feel like you listened to a full-length. It’s a testament to this band’s creativity and one can only wonder what they will be up to next!