I’m not usually one to buy into the narrative that they don’t make music “like this” anymore. There are literally millions of underground bands around the world paying homage to just about every microgenre ever created. Whether you’re into Led Zeppelin or late 70s New York punk or old school hip hop or vaporwave specifically devoted to Sailor Moon, somewhere out there, someone is doing what you want.

For instance, if you’re longing for the angular punk rock of the late 80s/early 90s Washington DC post-hardcore scene, San Francisco’s Rip Room has the cure for what ails you with urgent drums, deadpan vocals, and interweaving stabs of guitar and bass that wouldn’t feel out of place on the Dischord Records roster in 1993.

The California trio caps off two self-released EPs with their first full-length Alight and Resound, twelve tracks of punk rock that’s as aloof as it is infectious. They’ve been described as “dance music for people who don’t want to dance,” and that certainly hits the mark (though the band prefers “people who like to dance and are also bummed out”). I want to call it catchy, but John Reed’s half-spoken vocals don’t really invite singalongs. The band employs a straightforward, no-frills three-piece setup, but their composition is deceptively intricate with guitar and bass dancing around one another in intricate countermelodies while the drums drive the song with their head down.

It’s the best kind of art punk, employing influences from bands like Fugazi, Unwound, and Drive Like Jehu while avoiding the self-seriousness of so many bands who look to the same pioneers for guidance. It’s ambitious and powerful without forgetting to have fun too (case in point: a number of spots remind me of the Talking Heads). Too many punk bands forget that fun can be just as much an act of rebellion as a brick through a window when the powers that be want you in despair. If the revolution needs a dance party, Rip Room wrote the soundtrack.

Alight and Resound is out May 27th through Spartan Records.

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