RIBS – Not A Boogie

Raleigh post-punk band RIBS are releasing their second album Cold Ribs on August 21st via Three Lobed Recordings, the long-running North Carolina indie institution. “Not A Boogie” is the first single, and it’s a compact two and a half minutes that hits without reservation.

The band runs on Mike Wallace’s speak-sung vocals and a rhythm section that Cory Rayborn at Three Lobed describes as a “diesel-drunk engine,” which is accurate enough. The reference points that come to mind are Fugazi, Gurriers, Television: angular riffs, claustrophobic drumming, the whole thing held together by Wallace’s delivery alternating between narration and a shout. The track has a pinball quality to it, constantly threatening to break loose before pulling back, and the riff is the kind that lodges itself and doesn’t leave. RIBS apparently have no social media presence and minimal web footprint outside the music, which for a band this good feels like either a principled stance or just indifference to the machinery. Either way it makes finding them feel slightly earned.