Regardless of their loose affiliation with the California garage rock elite—their first album was produced by Ty Segall, this EP was released on Castle Face, the label part-owned by Thee Oh Sees’ John Dwyer—Ex-Cult is foremost a punk rock band. Throughout their career, they’ve carried traces of SST in their genetic makeup, but their very good sophomore set Midnight Passenger proved they could transcend '80s quasi-hardcore, adding a sense of atmosphere and texture to their approach. After expanding their boundaries on their second album, new EP  finds Ex-Cult mostly staying in the lane of their debut. Which is not entirely a bad thing. That record was replete with negative energy bursting from the speakers; it was fast and insistent, with a surplus of stinging guitars, half-barked vocals, and gunshot drums. And here, the barn-burning ferocity of the band has yet to be quelled.