Thousand Islands Records – May 08, 2020
A pleasing collection of short and fast skate core and punk rock songs
Mark & The Wolves are four Canadian punk rockers hailing from Quebec, Canada who are celebrating 10 years together as a band in 2020. They recently joined the ranks of Thousand Islands Records and their first release on this label is their new EP Lost for Words.
Opener “Against the Wind” features an acoustic guitar and immediately you can hear that the production of this EP sounds very polished. The vocals are clear but very, very raspy to the point where I would characterize them as shrill. It is a singing style that takes some getting used to and might not be everybody's cup of tea. The harmonies though sound very good and tight.
MATW then segues into “Singularity” where the band cuts loose with some nice and heavy skate punk with a good dash of hardcore thrown in. Fast paced drums, nice melodic lines throughout, some gang vocals and some half time drums to boot.
“Sheeps & Shepherds”and “Revolt” follow the same blueprint and show that Mark & The Wolves likes their punk rock fast and dark in which they remind me somewhat of the New Jersey band Vision combined with patches of fellow Epitaph veterans Pennywise. “A Matter of Time” varies in style somewhat with less emphasis on pace and more on mid tempo hardcore sing-alongs and harmonies.
For the last song “Dear Thomas L” the band once again puts the pedal to the metal and blasts through a roaring skate core song with some good sing-alongs and heavy guitar riffs.
Lost for Words clocks in just below 14 minutes and is a pleasing collection of short and fast skate core and punk rock songs. Mark & The Wolves clearly have years of experience under their belt and know how to create tight songs and good harmonies. The shrill vocals seem to dampen the excitement for me on many occasions, but don't let that stop you from giving this a listen.