No Bragging Rights Unleash Self Titled EP

Today, California based hardcore outfit No Bragging Rights have released their self-titled EP via Pure Noise Records. After an extended hiatus the band has returned with the first new music since their 2014 album, The Concrete Wall. Now comprised of vocalist Mike Perez, who started the band in 1999, Martin Alcedo (drums/vocals), Daniel Garrow(guitar/vocals) and Anthony ‘Tron’ Laur (guitar), the four-piece produced these seven songs themselves. Recorded between Laur’s home studio and Decade Sound Studio, both in Tacoma, WA, it’s an invigorating blast of melodic hardcore that pays homage to their past while also bringing them into the present

“Daniel and I would write these songs and give Mike and Martin blanket ideas – like ‘This one is kind of triumphant but has no resolve to it, so I don’t know what that means to you but you should aim your writing towards that’ to help curate the attitude and personality of each song”. (Anthony ‘Tron’ Laur)

When we were first brainstorming ideas, we all agreed we wanted it to sound nostalgic, so people know they’re still listening to No Bragging Rights, but we also wanted to elevate it to the best of our ability. It’s got some of our heaviest stuff, some of our most emotional stuff and some of the most technically challenging stuff, but it’s still classic No Bragging Rights.” (Martin Alcedo )

Indeed, one of the most recognisable No Bragging Rights traits is in full force here, that trademark attitude of resilience and defiance that has defined the band from the very beginning. That manifests itself both in the way these surging, energising melodies combine crunching riffs and soaring guitars, the clean and unclean vocals battling each other across a blistering sonic soundscape, but also with the lyrics, which dive deeper than ever before into the world of mental health. Partly, that’s the band emphatically doubling down on their identity for this re-introduction to the world, but it’s also representative of changes that have occurred since the last album came out. In Perez’s case, he was in his final year of an undergraduate degree to become a social worker when making this record, which shaped his lyrics.

“I’m still writing for myself so I can connect, but I do have others in mind as well. I feel like I try to ask questions – not just for myself but questions that other people may have. If I have answers, I try to put them in, but I’m more about asking questions. I know I’m in the band, but I’ve listened to our records to help myself. And if they can do that for me, then hopefully this record will be able to help whoever wants to listen to it.” (Martin Alcedo)

The No Bragging Rights EP is now available via Pure Noise Records