EP REVIEW: Tap Night (reissue) – Thoughtcrimes

Having played on half of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN’s studio albums, it’s no surprise Billy Rymer knows how to make one hell of a racket. Formed in 2019, his THOUGHTCRIMES project specialises in a similar chaoticism to that of his previous band. They work quickly too – they wrote their debut EP Tap Night in a single week soon after their formation. Things have been pretty quiet since then, but now the band emerge with a deluxe reissue of that same record. Boasting two brand new tracks, these extend the EP’s gloriously raucous runtime to just under 20 minutes.

Comparisons to Rymer’s old band are largely inescapable on Tap Night, but let’s face it that’s hardly a bad thing. It’s a manic, abrasive record, one that rarely settles on a single idea for more than a few moments. Second track Soapbox Sermon is a prime example, evoking the merciless mathcore of the likes of COALESCE and CAR BOMB. Punk Rock Guilt reaches similarly violent heights, its relatively downbeat mid-section only accentuating the utter crush of its outro. There’s also a decent hint of post-hardcore in the mix, this driven especially by vocalist Rick Pepa‘s more overwrought cleans.

It’s clear that THOUGHTCRIMES can do more than just caustic hardcore on Tap Night though. Most of all this is heard in the hints of more electronic elements which are peppered throughout the record. Opener Artificer even drops to something resembling a trap beat in its midsection, this backing atmospheric synths and pads. The band take this further still for fourth track Lux & Row, producing arguably the record’s finest moment in the process. This one’s a moody, brooding piece, with Pepa’s despondent vocals sitting atop more synths and Rymer’s driving, tom-led drums. It’s a change of pace which might be jarring to some, but the execution is nothing short of excellent.

If anything, it might’ve been interesting to see Rymer and co. explore this more atmospheric territory further on the EP’s bonus tracks, but for one reason or another they decide not to. Instead, both songs act as a resumption of the record’s earlier chaos, which again is hardly a problem. Misery’s A Muse is a two-minute rager, one that draws welcome comparisons to a band like EVERY TIME I DIE. Wedlock Waltz follows in a similar vein, rounding things out in a final flurry of dissonant blasting mathcore.

With a debut full-length expected in 2022, this deluxe reissue of Tap Night does a great job of getting listeners excited about THOUGHTCRIMES. The five-piece have all the trappings of a great chaotic hardcore band, but there’s clearly more to them than that. It seems likely that they’ll take their experimental tendencies further still on a full-length, but even if they don’t it’s still easy to revel in the more rabid and raging fare they deal in for most of this.

Rating: 8/10

Tap Night (reissue) is set for release on October 8th via Pure Noise Records.

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