‘Broken homes and broken bones, We reap the poison that they have sown, A generation expected to fail, When you only have a hammer, All you see is nails’ (Spirit Of Youth)

Hailing from Pittsburgh, No Time released their debut album, You’ll Get Yours, back in 2016.  They returned to the fray after something of a hiatus with their 2023 follow-up, Suffer No Fool, and now this new EP, Comply Or Die.  Intriguingly, they are band whose members have a rich history at the heavier end of hardcore including Concealed Blade, Heartless, Loose Nukes, and Masakari.  And while this pedigree ensures a welcome vehemency to the delivery, No Time is a rather different project.

An intro from The Chisel’s Cal Graham primes the scene before No Time unleash four tracks of high octane, Oi-fuelled melodic punk that brims with a rock’n’roll swagger and a catchily melodic pop sensibility.  The brightly sharp guitars contrast with the altogether burlier vocals as they explore police violence and a world that continues to do all it can to rob the young of any hope for change.  Iron Breed and State Execution get things off to a raucous start, but my personal highlights are, perhaps, the rollicking, piano fuelled title track with and the anthemic slow burn of Spirit Of Youth.