Nuclear Spring - s/t Lp

Nuclear Spring is another NYC supergroup, featuring members of Creem, La Misma and Natural Law. I think Adam (Katorga Works/I Could Die Tomorrow) summed up this band perfect on ICDT so rather than try to rehash that I will just quote him: "Imagine Criminal Damage if instead of taking its main cues from Blitz, the band worshiped the Templars instead". When he made these remarks he was talking about the bands S/T Demo CS, which is definitely one of my favorite demos of the past few years. Now while I still feel that the Templars sound is prevalent, the band has definitely evolved.The LP is short, only six songs tracking in at just over 10 minutes. Which brings me to my first thought, why the hell is this an LP. It seems that the new trend in punk is making the 12" EP, which seems a bit ironic because it would appear to be a complete waste of materials. I still kind of feel that if a record can easily fit on a 7" then it should stay a 7", but I am also not terribly familiar with the process of record cutting I can only assume that more materials are used when creating a larger record.For the LP, Nuclear Spring are more crisp and clean cut. The distinction between instruments is more clearly defined, made possible with a huge improvement in recording quality. The roughness of the CS is completely gone. The guitars are less distorted (or at least due to the clarity of the recording sound less distorted) leaving the crunchy leads of the demo sounding more twangy on the LP. Now in a way this sounds like a bad thing, but I can assure you that this LP is quite excellent in its own way. While not quite as catchy as the demo, the LP is its own unique creation. I've read on a lot of other reviews that the record has more of an Anarcho influence, and I can definitely see that, but to me it also has a very Scandi feel to it, sounding similar to bands like the The Vicious/Masshysteri.Despite obvious, or not so obvious, influences Nuclear Spring have proved on this record that they are not a cookie cutter punk band. They have shaped their own sound, and have pushed forth another six songs that are super fun and catchy. Get a copy while you can (Hysteria Records is already sold out but it is available through various distros still).