Texas punk veterans Institute are touring Australia for the first time and have teamed up with Anti-Fade Records for something fresh and essential at the merch table: a three-song 7″ that, for entirely selfish reasons, I hope does not sell out immediately. Too bad that shipping this thing overseas will cost about as much as the record player you spin it on.

Three songs, zero filler. And once again Institute prove they are operating on a different level than most so-called punk bands. Call it punk, call it rock, call it post-whatever. The attitude is what counts.

Lead track The Shooter is the gut punch. Sour, tense, melodic in a way that makes the bitterness land harder. Lyrically it goes straight for America’s gun delusions, delivered with the kind of drained fury that sounds like it has been simmering for years. Institute are fed-up and razor sharp.

The other two tracks hit with the same urgency. This does not feel like tour filler. It feels necessary. Institute still have plenty to say, and they play like it matters.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp