Admit it, you like your music dirty.  You like the singer to warble, the guitars too loud and the drums filled with excess. You want the bass muddled and you want a record to sound like it was done live in one take.  You want your music to explode and recoil for short, periodic bursts.  You want to annoy house guests yet provoke argument.  Yeah, you want them to leave, but you want them to stay.  This is why bands play music: to piss us off and to cull us.  This is the reason we love it: we want to be pissed off and we want to be culled.

Filth Rattle, the band’s second self-released EP, is meant as an entity rather than an introduction.  The band is quite aware that you’ve heard this all before.  They are quite aware of the “nothing new under that lucky ole sun” routine so commonly preached from the back of old rockers’ mouths.  They are aware of what sells from the commercial hills of hip-hop to the backwater burghs producing chamber-pop indie songs.  They are aware of it all, and the Marsh Hens have a common goal.  Oh, it’s not distance.  Their goal is actually to be a little closer to you than you might think.

Opener “Rough House” is a bass-heavy number with an off-kilter beat that could be mistaken for sloppiness if not for precise instrumental work.  The vocals stumble frightened and unsure, though with purpose, like a fight not meant to happen.  “Different Drum,” a Linda Ronstadt cover, opens the original to a wealth of originality not unlike Screeching Weasel covering “Runaway” in the early 90s.  Though the comparison ends there, the energy brought to an already beloved song from decades ago shows what the band is/will be capable of on the EP.

The frantic energy of “Officer Moriarty” is a reconciliation of sorts.  Though unapologetic for “Different Drum’s” softer side, they are certainly making amends for straying from what is becoming a theme.  The vocals are manic and pulsating.  Ear-splitting, even, while the instruments move maniacally behind them.  The listener is reminded of the fragile nature of a song: this is delicately kick-ass, if you will.  And the energy continues as you flip the record; “God Laughs” is a slow jam in name only.  The song manages to balance shouting and panting with almost impatiently changing drums.  I feel for the guitarist and bassist while they keep up.

“Waterbug Beach” provides the final, penetrating glimpse of The Marsh Hens, musically at least, and the guitar/ rhythm interplay are at their finest here.  Each instrument is locked in and methodical.  Everyone is pacing perfectly and separating themselves at the same time.  The ebb-and-flow/give-and-take/etc., is the point of the songs.  Meant to push you away with their veracity but hook you with their precision, Filth Rattle motions to you, beckoning for your attention, but the band might just be happy without it too.  As the lead singer tells a story in his persona “Natey” to close the EP, it’s honestly not so bizarre as it is necessary to see them at their most vulnerable.  Acting out is normal even from those ignoring your need for calmness or easily digestible music. Admit it, you love that.

I love vinyl. So, immediately, these dudes get an A+ for giving me their 7″ for review.  They also get high marks for making a fantastic first impression.  Jangly, yet precise guitar riffs resonate over loud and fierce rhythm.  It may sound sloppy at first, but these songs are rockers through and through and they are as tight as it gets.  Passionately yelled vocals temper each track, and the overall aesthetic falls somewhere between the Dead Milkmen and Dead Kennedys.  Either way, this could prove to be a winner.  Al of this and it is under twenty minutes.

I’ll explain more after nine more listens, but until then, the EP is out and available for streaming here.  Expect a review really soon, since this is short and sweet.