Debut 7" from this Atlanta punk band featuring former members of Brain F≠ and Double Negative.

Our take: Debut 7” from this Atlanta punk band featuring Bobby from Brain F≠, Double Negative and Wymyns Prysyn playing guitar instead of his usual drums. Mutual Jerk don’t really sound anything like any of those bands, though. On the one hand there’s a real Atlanta vibe here… there’s certainly something of the dark, ominous melodies favored by bands like Nag and the Frantic. But on the other hand it takes such a different approach than most punk bands that it has its own really distinctive voice. There are very few full-on loud and aggressive moments. Rather than bashing out big power chords, the guitar noodles around the solid bass lines while the vocalist rants over top of it. All three of the tracks almost sound like extended intros because the tension builds and builds, Mutual Jerk continually delaying the big payoff moment where everything gets loud and intense. However, the songs don’t sound incomplete and unfinished, they just focus on a very different chunk of the emotional spectrum than a lot of punk music. It’s quite a striking EP, and if neither broad pop melodies nor hardcore aggression is a requirement for your punk music, this could well be a much-appreciated counter-balance to the countless bands who over-use and abuse those tropes.