I’m just gonna go out on a limb here and pretend that most (if not all) of the people who read this blog have MySpace accounts and I assume that most of them are friends with at least a couple of bands they enjoy or admire. Thus, like me, you’ve had to deal with the agonizing truckload of unsolicited friend requests from cookie-cutter singer/songwriters and third-rate hardcore bands that begin fill your inbox after you add a sizeable band to your friend list. Part of the territory, sure, though every now and then all the bulletin and blog posts and unwarranted friend requests seem entirely worth it when you’re tipped onto something that really makes your head spin. That fresh discovery of something unique and inspiring is what music on MySpace should be all about. Unfortunately, quality control is not.

In February of 2006 I logged on and found a bulletin post from Atlanta hardcore act the Chariot urging their fans to check out a band of college kids from Oxford, Mississippi named Colour Revolt. The post was simple, short, and seemed honest, so I curiously headed over to the band’s profile and took a listen. After scoping a profile picture that showed five young, normal-looking dudes, “Blood in Your Mouth” immediately began with its haunting, southern gothic intro—at first struggling between blaring blues harp and bone dry guitars before being interrupted by the unsure words of singer Jesse Coppenbager and the gunfire crack of bass guitar and floor tom—and I couldn’t move. As the seconds went by, the band blew through tense and foreboding post-grunge arrangements and then smothered them with hardcore-inspired spazz outs. Coppenbager’s voice went from forlorn to grating until the song’s title seemed eerily literal, his most obvious touchstones being Guy Piciotto and Jason Pierce from Spiritualized. I immediately ordered the just-released self-titled EP and when it showed up to my door it didn’t leave the playlist. The whole EP is stoned-out, hypnotic and completely enrapturing, but the other cut that stood out immediately was “Mattresses Underwater”—the assumed single—a rousing and hymn-like journey through brit-pop mope and Red Medicine-era Fugazi catharsis.

The EP’s biggest strength is its confined and desperate nature. It’s a piece of intense expression that seems utterly drastic but completely natural. All of tracks were laid onto a makeshift ProTools rig in the middle of the living room of their small label’s office and the meager surroundings certainly manifested themselves in the EP’s devastating moods. And while I don’t know whether or not the songs were tracked live, it’s clear the band is quite proficient at locking in together and exploring the outer reaches of a song’s rhythm and depth. There’s plenty of reasons to fall in love with this group, but let me just add that their live show is exactly what you’d expect—physical and riveting. The full-length is on the way (apparently with some big names attached), until then enjoy this phenomenal debut.

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