EP REVIEW: No Bragging Rights – No Bragging Rights

It seems a number of what you might call ‘veteran’ hardcore bands have found a new lease on life over the past few years. In some cases, original line-ups have reunited after years apart, while others have been resurrected entirely from hiatuses or break-ups. Enter California’s NO BRAGGING RIGHTS, who join that ever-growing list with their first release in seven years. A self-titled EP, it ends a hiatus which began in March 2015 in the aftermath of a serious van accident. While the band have brought their sound up to date a bit for this record, it largely sees them pick up right where they left off with a motivational and hard-hitting brand of melodic hardcore.

Spoiling its listeners with a generous seven tracks, there’s lots to like about No Bragging Rights. For starters, it’s arguably the band’s heaviest record. Opener Strengths Perspective sets the pace well, with high energy verses, chugging breakdowns, and gang vocals galore. It makes for a solid start to the EP, which continues to hit with a similar force throughout. Pretty much every track boasts at least one bone-crunching breakdown, with that of fourth track Stages reaching especially crushing heights.

Balancing out NO BRAGGING RIGHTS’ harder edges on this EP are their strong melodic tendencies. The guitars in particular add lots in this regard, with soaring lead lines often accentuating the band’s hardcore bite. Founder and vocalist Mike Perez’s clean vocals help with this too, often leaning into quite an emotional post-hardcore territory. These can make the record feel especially expansive, not least in the massive chorus of third track Breaking Point. Crucially, they largely manage to avoid a bit of the more ‘scenecore’ cheesiness that they fell into on earlier records, although there are still a couple of moments where some might accuse them of that here.

Admittedly, you won’t hear anything on No Bragging Rights you haven’t heard before, but one thing that does elevate this record is its emotional resonance. Perez and co. definitely don’t shy away from tough topics, exploring addiction, abuse, mental health and more over the EP’s seven tracks. Rather than letting these subjects overwhelm them however, NO BRAGGING RIGHTS stand proud and tall, refusing to bend or break. Closer Unapologetic sums this up well, its defiant cries of “I am not my illness/I am not my past mistakes” ending the record on a triumphant and motivational high.

Ultimately, that’s what NO BRAGGING RIGHTS are all about. They belong to that proud school of bands who use their music to inspire people to overcome their fiercest struggles. By that metric, No Bragging Rights is definitely a success, and a triumphant return for the band. These 24 minutes don’t reinvent the wheel, but they do serve a solid and stirring purpose. Much like the rest of their output, this is the kind of record that’ll make a dark day feel that little bit lighter. NO BRAGGING RIGHTS are back, and with this EP it’s like they never left in the first place.

Rating: 7/10

No Bragging Rights is set for release on December 3rd via Pure Noise Records.

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