F-1, F-2 and F-3 are a trio of sharply dressed Latino gents from Downey, CA with an insatiable jones for early ‘80s Punk/New Wave and sling ferocious agit-music with more sharp edges than a box full of rusty nails. Already a minor cause celebre in their native L.A. for their berserk live shows and rabid cult following (complete with hand signals), The Fuse’s pneumatic performance drive translates well into their debut CD. Cuts rarely break the two-minute mark, yet F-1 and F-3 (drums and bass, respectively) never lose the reins—their rhythm work is as simultaneously rock solid and elastic as the Minutemen, with F-2’s guitar whirring and slicing alongside like the sonic equivalent of the Flying Guillotine.

Fourteen songs in all, each preaching fierce, immediate and purifying revolution against all manner of social and emotional ills; this is the sort of thing that set the underground to burning twenty-five years ago, and The Fuse are packing enough firepower on their debut CD to start that shit all over again. Get it.

—Paul Gaita