From the label that introduced you to favorite albums by Thee Oh Sees, White Fence, the Mallard, and others comes the latest LP from Chicago’s Running. Never before has a band name felt so appropriate. There’s nothing slow about these songs; these guys have either never heard the expression “take your time!” or have artfully chosen to ignore it. The result is Vaguely Ethnic: nine songs of light-speed, non-stop, loud and gritty punk rock that clock in at a cool 20 minutes and 57 seconds. Yeah, that’s right: it’ll take you less time to listen to this entire album than to watch one of your favorite sitcoms on Netflix.

Vaguely Ethnic is a touch more abrasive than many albums released by Running’s Castle Face labelmates. The intent with these songs seems not to get your buns a’shaking or even your head a’bopping– no, these songs are expressly crafted to make you thrash and mosh and step on someone’s toes and probably annoy the girl who is standing behind you. Seriously, listen to the noggin-banger that is “Why Can’t You Be In Running” and tell me this is not the case.

A personal favorite here is “Wanna Weekend”, which seems to have that perfect combination of a catchy guitar line with a maniacal drum beat. If you listen close enough, you can almost hear that sweaty, crowded Saturday night basement smell…

Listen to the full stream of the album below, and if you like it, grab it on wax from Castle Face or pick it up at your favorite record store.