Scowl’s ambitions glow on their latest EP Psychic Dance Routine

Since 2019 the Santa Cruz five-piece have loaded themselves up with an arsenal of blistering hardcore, rightfully earning their place in the California scene sweeping its way over the Atlantic – emboldened by the likes of Drain and Zulu. Having eked out their own space, Scowl are as ferocious as they are fervent, and Psychic Dance Routine is a stepping stone towards total domination.

Building upon the release of their debut album 2021’s How Flowers Grow – a snarling, 15-minute blast of hardcore punk’s past, present, and future – Psychic Dance Routine brings some hip-swinging action into the mix.

Still ripping at breakneck speeds, their third EP posits the band’s ambitions without negating their hardcore roots. Taking their foot off the accelerator to explore more melodic facets, the groups stadium stint with Limp Bizkit feels prescient in the best way possible. Most notably, “Opening Night” and “Psychic Dance Routine” relish in the sparking bite of the music, allowing vocalist Kat Moss’s rumination's against the world to sing through with the fangs well and truly sheathed. “Shot Down” marries the two, with verses searing until Moss’s barking makes way for a chorus that dances in its ideas of freaking out and impressing with partners in crime. Each moment pays dividend into the next as tracks bleed into one another. Suitably, “Wired” and “Sold Out” stick truest to the Scowl sound of yesteryear in classic fashion.

There’s no doubt Scowl made their mark as purveyors of blistering hardcore, but the ability to change shapes with a chameleonic expertise that few can pull off is astounding. Scowl are as evocative as they are punishing, and their place on the treasured mantle of hardcore is waiting.