Best Practices are a garage punk band from Providence, RI. Among their ranks are members of Weak Teeth and former members of Light the Fuse and Run, and Wow, Owls!. Their songs are short and fast. Their nine song debut album, the somewhat confusingly titled “The EP LP,” clocks in at 12 minutes. It’s that kind of album.
I have to admit that I’m unfamiliar with the bands that the members of Best Practices came from, but while I can’t make any accurate statements about how the music compares I can say that The EP LP is damn good. The closest comparison that I can come up with is the new Joyce Manor album, “Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired.” They’ve got a few things in common: there are nine tracks, you can listen to the entire album several times in an hour, shouted vocals and there’s lots of distortion and feedback throughout.
And yet, whereas Joyce Manor has a heavy indie influence running throughout their songs, Best Practices takes a hardcore approach to their brand of garage punk. Shouted vocals are generally a staple of garage bands, but there’s a raw sense of energy found in vocalist Jeff Byers’ vocal delivery that owes more to Keith Morris than Roger Daltrey.
I must have listened to the EP LP at least three or four times while writing this. I know that doesn’t reflect well for my typing skills, but the problem is that every time I start it over, I have to stop writing to play air instruments along with a song or two. Is that kind of embarrassing to admit? A tad, but I think it also speaks volumes about the EP LP. Whether the album’s title reflects that it was originally intended to be released as several EPs or if it reflects the LP’s short playtime is unclear, but what is clear is that Best Practices plays it loud, fast, and hard. Check it out.
4/5
Recommended If You Like: Joyce Manor, OFF!, Weak Teeth, Wow, Owls!