These nasty little mammals from Portland, Oregon have been quite busy in the past few years. They released Bites Rites, their critically acclaimed full-length and follow-up to Lower Forms. Also,  they resurrected their own label, Eolian Empire, and made it their mission to expose the world to the best loud, heavy, and weird music their hometown has to offer. In addition, they released a split seven-inch with kindred spirits Arabrot, and even did a European tour with those Norwegian Grammy-winning noisemakers earlier this year.

Now comes this odds and ends cassette collection of tunes, which features six originals on the A side, while the B side is a bunch of raging hardcore punk covers that they have worked into their set over the years. In case you forgot, this reminds you why they are such a nasty and vital loud rock band.

The A side opens with noisy lurch of “Wooze”, which is slow, low and dirty. But from there, “No (More) Depth” picks up the pace and is a raging piece of fast, sludgy hardcore that is over before you realize it began. “Riff Fuck Reap” throws some noisy doom and thrash into the mix, while “Slow Mars” is droney and drugged out. “Lungs” brings you back into the tarpit, while “Bees Revolt” is another fast piece of sludgy noise. This shows the variety of ways the band can sonically kill.

Of the punk covers, they totally destroy with their version of Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” featuring the vocals of Jonnie Ray Monroe. The guitars have bite, and Monroe’s vocals are pure rocker woman toughness. They also do a great job with Negative Approach’s “Evacuate,” finding the nasty rock groove hidden away in this hardcore punk nugget. Surprisingly, their cover of Minor Threat‘s “Straight Edge” is spot on, even though the band would seem like they lean more toward the cover of Black Flag‘s “Wasted,” which also appears on here. (These both originally appeared as a postcard flexidisc for Record Store Day a few years back).

There is also an out of control cover of Portland anti-heroes Poison Idea’s song “Think Twice,” which just slays (and supposedly has that infamous band’s approval). “One And All,” originally by Rudimentary Peni, has a cynical outlook that is perfect for the band, and their cover of the Cro-Mags “Hard Times” takes chunky New York City hardcore to the noise rock woodshed.

If you want a nasty little chunk of noisy loud rock, you should definitely pick up this cassette. The originals are righteous and the hardcore punk covers destroy. After listening to this you can definitely see why they are one of the best kept secrets in the noise rock underground.

(Eolian Empire, PO Box 42073, Portland, OR 97242)