In preparation for the upcoming USA Off Earth Now! 7” on Lagerville Records and west coast tour, I’m pulling one of last year’s most underrated 7”s: Life? from Iowa’s NERV. Life? mixes the sound of Damaged-era Black Flag with some of the more spastic midwest hardcore acts of the 1980’s – bands like No Response and early Die Kreuzen. The vocal delivery channels everyone’s favorite hardcore band, Void, really playing into the odd and chaotic vibe. The debut EP provides eight tracks of insanely catchy hardcore punk, something that the new EP promises to build on. USA Off Earth Now appears to up the ante, providing stronger production for the band’s already stellar song writing. NERV has its sound and it executes it well, one perfectly suited from its distance from the coasts. Tour dates aren’t readily available at the moment, but should hopefully appear on the Lagerville Records blog before the band heads out at the end of the month.