Genres only serve as bullshit boundaries for creative bands, and Gaytheist wants nothing to do with them. Since forming in 2011, they’ve expertly mashed, mixed, and melded everything from metal, to noise rock, to hardcore, to pop, to polka (probably). And on their new full-length, Let’s Jam Again Soon, the Portland trio serves explosive bombast on a silver platter while wearing white gloves.

Gaytheist doesn’t just break the mold in sound—they also shatter it with persona and stage presence. Bassist Tim Hoff and drummer Nick Parks are your standard bearded, tattooed, sweaty rock dudes, but vocalist/guitarist Jason Rivera cuts off your head while wearing a seersucker suit (or something comparably dapper). The band’s merchandise spread featured golf towels for a while, too. Though Gaytheist’s music is abrasive, they present themselves with class. 

Let’s Jam Again Soon falls in line with their previous efforts. They drop succinct, under-two-minute eruptions of riffs and screams with songs like “Extravagant Lie,” “Consumer,” and “We Are Possessed.” Tracks like “Avenged Seven-Minute Abs,” “On My Knees,” and “It’s Just Everything” have guitar and vocal melodies reminiscent of bands like Built to Spill. But instead of these melodies wrapping you in warm blankets or sending you off to a gentle cloud, Gaytheist uses them to rip off Band-Aids and douse your wounds with peroxide. The main reason their music can be so abusive is due to Parks’ drumming style—his attack on every song sounds like a wave of boulders rolling down a spiral staircase.

Calling Let’s Jam Again Soon accessible might be giving your average layman too much credit. However, bands like Nirvana made loud, distorted guitars and harsh caterwauling radio-friendly in the past. If any band can bring the noise back to the airwaves, it’s Gaytheist.Â