As a precursor to the surprisingly abrasive
Stigma, this stopgap EP already showed
EMF displaying a musical courage not often seen in ostensibly one-hit wonders. Gone are the Madchester-friendly dance-pop loops; instead, a harsh propellant of strangulated guitars and munched-up beats toss back the storm windows with a criminally underrated force of will. Some may adhere to the wall of snake-charming sirens in "Getting Through," but the heart of
EMF circa 1992 is in the hot-baked "Search and Destroy" that shoves a kitchen knife down your gullet with a more frenzied, vicious precision than even
the Stooges had imagined. Kid you not. Well, maybe a little. ~ Dean Carlson