Loose is a trio of local scene veterans who know how to keep things nice and tight, as evidenced by their new EP Haircut. The band plays jittery, jangling punk rock, full of sharp corners and sneaky hooks that sound like typical lo-fi fare until later, when you find them lingering in your brain long after your ears have moved on to something else.
That’s a testament to their knack for efficiency; at six tracks and just 10 minutes, Haircut is filled to the brim with a dense tangle of serrated guitar licks, tumbled rhythms, and no-frills vocal melodies. Loose’s sound makes sense, given its members’ most recent musical endeavors: Nick Everett (drums) played in catchy emo-punk outfit Blowout, Teal Bluestone (bass) fronted ambitious indie rock band Naked Hour, and Jeremy Murphy (guitar) made fuzzy math-pop with Riled. Thanks to shifting time signatures and Murphy’s lead vocals, Loose most closely resembles Riled, but with a bonus dose of sparkling charm.