The Hattiesburg label Earth Girl Tapes mostly releases music from the South, but one recent release in their catalog expands their geographical footprint. People Talking, a new cassette EP from the Chicago punk band Cucuy, dropped via Earth Girl a couple days after Christmas. I am just getting through my backlog of Bandcamp notifications now, and I can confirm that Cucuy justify the decision to venture outside state lines. The band plays an unhinged but melodic form of hardcore that reminds me of early Pixies and Melt-Banana. Every song seems to be woven together out of spaghetti at warp speed, and vocalist Ralph matches the musicians’ volatility with ranting and raving that seems to have been captured mid-meltdown. Fun stuff! Listen below.

People Talking is out now via Earth Girl Tapes.