2007 MDB Records/self-released

4 out of 5

DESA, the better part of the remnants of East Bay ska/hardcore legends Link 80, have given us a short but sweet preview of their new material. Recording for the first time without longtime drummer Joey Bustos, they have put together this raw yet very solid EP and distributed it for free via their website.

If these three tracks are any indication, DESA are continuing the departure from the pop-hardcore of their debut album Year in a Red Room which began with 2005's Arriving Alive. The three songs are packed with cathartic yet tuneful hooks and driving arrangements. Singer Ryan Nobel's vocals are more trained in the past but still rough enough around the edges to assure us that DESA is still to some extent a punk band. The band effortlessly switches up styles between gritty At The Drive-In-esque post-hardcore and funk rock on the closer "Momentum." New drummer Steven Heet is a welcome addition, keeping things solid but interesting.

Though short and roughly produced, Sirens and Safety Glass contains some of Desa's most distinctive and well-written material to date. They seem to have successfuly moved beyond the typical punk rock of their earlier work to something more exciting and all-around better. Hopefully this is a good indication of what will come next.

-JC 08/2007