Five tracks. Just over ten minutes.

You do the maths…

With an average running time of a mere two minutes it would have been very hard for Ghost Of The Avalanche to outstay their welcome with their latest EP, ‘Obsessive Compulsive Gender Dysphoria’, but thankfully the self-proclaimed noise-punks have more to offer than just noise and punk.

An opening one-two of ‘Oblivion’ and ‘They Hate You Too’ are loud and abrasive, arriving like a masochistically enjoyable kick in the teeth. But in just two tracks they pack in elements of screamo and hardcore, spliced with Slaves and The Hives, with satirically razor-sharp lyrics that actually stand proud from their musical bedding, and above all else, these songs are enjoyable, even if they have both been and gone in the same time it would take to be numbed by a three and a half minute pop number.

It truly is a blessing that this duo can cram catchy hooks and an abundance of musical touchstones that reach far beyond the usual short-range aims of most bands that remain stuck in a genre rut into just a handful of songs, as ‘Snake Charmer’ and EP closer ‘Dystopia’ adequately display. The band name and image may fit a hardcore stereotype but a strong tilt towards indie grounds them, and provides accessibility.

In fact, it is ‘White Noise’, an upbeat diatribe about the state of prevalent modern music, that ironically sounds tailor made for mainstream consumption.

It’s a swift exercise in how to entertain a generation of second-screening, data-devouring fans that have shaken the shackles of previous musical tribes and are now living in a current climate of insecurity, fake news and too much information.

Review by Glen Byford