Pregnancy Scares’ Mind Control EP is another hit in a year of great punk albums coming out on Canada’s Deranged Records, who have recently also put out records by Institute, Pleasure Leftists, Criminal Code and Arctic Flowers. But instead of the post-punk tendencies of these other Deranged bands, Pregnancy Scares’ sound lands much closer to their other labelmates in Stoic Violence, though they play different styles of hardcore. Pregnancy Scares has a harsh, noisy, and raging sound that fans of S.H.I.T. and Warthog will be into, with high-pitched, raw vocals and the filthy, nastily-distorted guitar work. These four songs are all fantastic, but the opener “Master Race” though is the best song on here (but the other three are not far behind), with a stomping rhythm and harsh, memorable riffs. And they even find time for an great and short melodic guitar solo in there amongst the heavy riffing. Pregnancy Scares slow down a bit for the next two tracks, which are absolutely crushing. The EP ends with the, explosive, twice-as-long closer “Lobotomy” that eventually devolves into harsh, feedback chaos. These are 4 great songs from a band that’s really killing it, so pick it up from Deranged Records.