Great Like Cake

Following in the tradition of the San Diego, CA's DIY indie music scene to date, Great Like Cake's debut is taut with layered riffs over dominant drums and underlying vocals. Falling somewhere between Hot Snakes and Minus the Bear, the quartet straddle the line between traditional post-hardcore and indie punk styles. Third track "Hot Strokes" stands apart as the strongest, and loudest, on the six-track album. Great Like Cake discard the ambience that surrounds their other songs and instead opt for screaming double vocals over a hard bass drum beat and a speedy, repeating guitar riff. Stallion Italian focuses on the vocal/guitar relationship, wherein each part feeds off the other in a two-dimensional way without the use of layered sounds. In effect, their raw approach distinguishes the band from more polished-sounding acts within their genre. Stallion Italian is a fierce debut from the San Diego natives. Their signature style sticks because of its intricate riff formations and structured sound while still allowing the space needed for the unit to expand in future releases.