Newly-formed Vancouver, BC pop-punk trio Grease Thieves boast a vocalist whose snarl makes him sound a bit like vintage Tim Armstrong, and one can almost hear the saliva flinging around on the four songs featured on the group’s 2015 The World This Hour - about as enthusiastic and fun a debut EP as one could hope for. Unfortunate though it may be that opener “99 Problems” isn’t a re-imagining of the Jay-Z hit, it still rips forward on the back of a bouncy bassline and throaty vocals, with downright hooky guitar thrown in for good measure. The infectious energy carries over into the similar rollicking “Threw It Away,” which manages a few rhythmic change-ups and even a solo break in its minute and a half duration, “How Many Days,” wrapping things up in a lean and mean 56 seconds, and “No Tomorrow,” a closer that alternates between rowdy verses and a nostalgia-inducing guitar interlude. They may not be doing anything that hasn’t been done before, but Grease Thieves come across like a more cheerful but still snotty, alternate universe version of The Dwarves, and in doing that, they simply can’t be all bad.
