We Are Fast-Moving M**********rs. We Are Women and Men of Action.

Something of a post-hardcore supergroup gathering Josh Staples of the Velvet Teen and Michael Richardson of Benton Falls, the New Trust debut with We Are Fast-Moving M**********rs. We Are Women and Men of Action., a seemingly deliberately fractured and pointedly noisy blast of emo aggression. The longest of these eight songs just barely breaches the three-minute mark, and the whole thing blows past in around 20, bringing to mind the concision of vintage Minor Threat and Black Flag. Richardson handles the lead vocals on a few songs, his hardcore bellow a needed counterbalance to Staples' somewhat weedy emo style. His bark makes "I'm a Sucker for Backwards Drums" (despite the nonsensical title, a lyrically direct anti-Iraq War diatribe) and the snarky "When the Bombs Go Off" the most appealing songs on the album. Richardson's contributions would be sharply reduced on the New Trust's next album, as Staples and his guitar-playing wife Sara Sanger took full control of the band's direction; that decision smoothed out the rough edges of this somewhat awkward debut and made the band's second album a more enjoyable record overall, but there are some interesting albeit unfinished musical ideas to be found here.