The street punk trio, The Boils, pounds and screams its way through five songs in just about 12 minutes on its latest release, The Ripping Waters, but the songs aren't as anarchist as expected. Theirs is a harder punk sound with metal-esque overtones. The rapid-power chords in tracks like "Seven Days" and "Hearts of Fire" sound like a nod to the group's speed-metal heroes.

The group does manage to throw in whatever variety they feel a standard two-minute punk song can hold, going beyond the three-chord stereotype. "Victory" contains a short but respectable bass solo, while "Hearts of Fire" collapses into a surprising reggae breakdown, a nice melodic touch on a riff-driven disc.

The Boils have also included a live recording of "Assassin," which, despite its liveliness, loses its lyrical message amidst poor quality -- but these guys thrive on that kind of rawness anyway. The Boils never claim to be anything more than pure energy, as the group victoriously gives a shout-out to "the banks of the Delaware to the Schuylkill." And even if it's only theoretically clear exactly what The Boils are valiantly fighting for, this is a punk rock record with a main focus on force.

-- Reviewed by Paul Weinstein