Priced Out’s debut EP passes all the tests that qualify it to be a solid punk offering. Garage-y, lo-fi, visceral, and angsty, Priced Out are debuting with a catchy banger.
Based in Vancouver, Canada, Priced Out are a five-piece post-punk outfit composed of a pair of guitarists, bass, guitar, and vocals, all dropping some immediately thrilling riffing, solid song building, impactful lyrics, and memorable production on their aptly named debut EP ‘Four Songs’. Perhaps one of the album’s more interesting features is its rapid-fire pace, finishing four songs before the 10-minute mark, making the listening experience a blistering one that doesn’t give the listeners much chance to process the scale of the mayhem ensuing.
Musically speaking, the album’s single most defining feature is actually the snare. Tight and plasticky, pronounced and off-kilter, it is the sound’s most prominent feature, and it also gives the songs the visceral and delicious lo-fi feel. Other than that, the 4 short songs are full of social commentary, and in pure Canadian fashion, the general message of the songs is for people giving each other opportunities, support, and empathy, regardless of how angry the sound is. The starter ‘Pull The Ladder Up’ is full to the brim with infectious riffs and a noise-filled atmosphere, and ‘Hedge Fund Maze’, the EP’s third cut, is a shape-shifting, little demon of a song, jumping from intense sludgy sections to funky interludes, to thrashy riffs within the matter of seconds, and the album closer ‘Artwashing’ is like cursed with the juiciest dissonant wails, making it one of the album’s most interesting listens.
Four Songs is easily an exciting debut by Priced Out. Showcasing solid songwriting and a distinctive sound and message, an EP that stokes the fire for more punk from Priced Out.
