The Blood Brothers were one of the most beloved bands in post-hardcore history, occupying a manic space that was so strange and specific that nobody has come close since. When their reunion tour came to an end, several members found they weren’t ready to stop, and the result is Evil Island. Their debut Terraform the Afterlife is a continuation of that legacy that’s a blast from beginning to end.

The overall sense is that of extremely skilled musicians whose natural impulse is towards complex and weird material consciously realigning themselves to do something more straightforward that lands on proto-punk, with the rawness and volume of The Stooges, the fun swagger of New York Dolls and a rock and roll sound that predates the Ramones’ power chord formula. Extremely fast, extremely loud, and extremely fun, the DNA of The Blood Brothers is still absolutely present with unmistakable high-pitched vocals shrieked to the edge of what a human voice can do, but the songs have a more concerted effort to deliver clear choruses and contain the mania within a classic structure.

Opener Melted Heart features Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells with her classic cheerleader-style chanting, followed by Terminatrix which is over in two short, sharp minutes. Animal has a strutting groove and a very learnable chorus, and T-Hexx features Guy Picciotto of Fugazi making his first recorded vocal appearance since 2002. You can hear the influence of Fugazi all over the record, and singer Johnny Whitney had been performing the chorus as a call-and-response impression of Piciotto and Ian McKaye, so they got in contact and invited him to record it, placing their influence joyfully front and centre and wearing their hearts (and record collections) on their sleeves.

No Good could have easily appeared on a Blood Brothers record, whilst Moonlight Doomlight has a boogie-woogie quality that’s enormous fun. Blinding Rage has the anthemic quality of The Hives, and The Blood Brothers other vocalist Jordan Blilie appears on I Bought A Spell, adding another layer of post-hardcore celebration to the record. Suicide By Cop closes the album in a way that’s deliberately weird and abruptly experimental, reminding you that the band can still choose to go somewhere really strange.

Terraform The Afterlife has the angular DNA of post-hardcore but it’s not angsty or dark, it’s just a fun rock and roll show, and it’s the communal aspects of this record that make it so joyful. Post-hardcore is largely defined by serious, dark, and emotionally devastating music, but there also exists an equally beloved tradition of completely absurdist song titles, ridiculous band names and supergroup side projects where musicians from angsty bands got together to have stupid fun. Evil Island is perhaps the definitive version of that second tradition.

The lineup reads like a post-hardcore dream team, and they’ve all decided to use their powers for entertainment rather than anguish, sounding like a party with confetti canons going off throughout, and having the time of their lives.