According to their Twitter bio, the Norwich, UK band Other Half play “tightly wound post-hardcore.” They’re real good at it too. The group just announced their new album Soft Action, set for release in December on Big Scary Monsters, and released its first two singles. They rule.

Opening track “Like A Dog” is a quick, discordant blast of aggression. It gets in and out in 38 seconds, which is more than enough time to make an impression. The more single-like song of the pair is “Slab Thick,” a more melodic but no less urgent three-minute rocker full of slicing guitars and barked lyrics about cutting stale conversation with a bread knife. I’m showing my age with this one, but the music reminds me of turn-of-the-millennium greats like Mclusky, Idlewild, and At The Drive-In. (When that chorus hits, you can’t help but suspect a relationship to Relationship Of Command.)

Hear both songs below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Like A Dog”
02 “Jollies With The Boys”
03 “Slab Thick”
04 “In My Wires”
05 “Grisly Visions”
06 “Just A Holiday”
07 “Losing The Whip”
08 “All Bets Are Off”
09 “Doom Logo”
10 “Who’s Got Guts?”
11 “Every Future”
12 “Planetary Feeling”
13 “Ugly Reunion”
14 “If You Write The Way You Talk”

Soft Action is out 12/2 on Big Scary Monsters.