Damn Terran’s debut ep Pet Hate is brazen, like a good punk rock effort should be. Rich with distortion and unbridled aggression, Pet Hate is the best representation of Damn Terran any recording could get without it actually being a live show. The artwork immediate sets the ep off; expressing Pet Hate’s punk rock assertiveness and its down-to-earth undertones.

On my first listen, I kept comparing what I was hearing to frontman Lachlan Ewbank’s other project Death Valley Band, whose songs contain a subtly that isn’t present in Damn Terran. On my second listen through, I realised subtly is definitely not what this ep and this band is about. It’s about being boisterous and making as much noise as possible.

Opener ’98.1’ is a minute and a half of throbbing bassline and drums, a wirery guitar making itself heard over the top, before racing into ‘Man of Your Dreams’; tongue-in-cheek and brash like a bratty teenage boy. ‘Oh’ moves in waves of metallic guitar chords strummed behind desperate sounding vocals and a thundering mash of each member making as deep a raucous as possible.

As the number of listen to these seven tracks click over, the catchiness of the tunes shines through the overt aggression, making the songs draw you in rather than alienate.

Personal favourite is ‘Crowd Control’, it is slow and lamenting but something is clearly bubbling under the surface of the retrained distortion drenching the song, the song appropriately titled. The song never really breaks into anything gigantic, but the anticipation keeps you listening.

7.5/10