The Best EPs of 2015

Steve O, Dave and I are getting ready to vote on our bracket of the best albums of the year. Every year we nominate 32 of our favorite albums to compete in a bracket to decide which album is named as Change the Rotation's top album of the year. We limit entries into the bracket to full-length albums, so EPs always get left out. Plenty of great releases are of the short-form variety. The following are my favorite EPs from 2015. Look out for the bracket toward the end of the year.

Haki - Haki's Big New EP

It might be a bummer to give the top slot to a band that does not exist anymore, but this EP is one of my favorite things that came out this year. A lot of Haki's material has an experimental feel to it. The band embraces choppy, halting rhythms while vocalist Kelsey Ashby-Middleton army crawls over them. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Primus are called to mind at times. "Fishtank," the most straightforward punk song on Haki's Big New EP, closes it out on a high. Haki draws you into a trance over the first six songs, then punches you in the face with the shouted count-in and piledriving bass/guitar combo of "Fishtank." I am supremely bummed that this local band broke up before I got a chance to see them live. Stream Haki's Big New EP here.

Super Unison - Super Unison

Super Unison, from Oakland, has a promising future ahead. Their self-titled EP was their first release. They recently put out a new song and are working on a full-length album. If you don't know Super Unison, you might recognize the searing vocals from the band Punch. Punch released the great album They Don't Have to Believe last year. Their lead singer left the band before year's end. She now handles vocals in Super Unison. These are four quick hardcore songs that I have kept coming back to since this EP dropped in the spring. The guitars are fierce, the vocals are relentless. I am looking forward to what 2016 has in store for this band. Listen to Super Unison here.

Dead Drugs - Pillow Talk

It would be easy to mistake the racket made by Jeffrey Drugs for a band full of people. This hits all the marks for garage rock. The blues-y affection is there, the fuzzy guitar is there and the stomping rhythm carries the whole thing. Dead Drugs, from Lake In The Hills, pulled off an instantly catchy EP. The title track and "She Do" have stuck with me the most this year. Listen to Pillow Talk here.

Seasonal Men's Wear - 9xTOx5xCORE

This EP features the best recording sound quality of any of the releases from our friends in Seasonal Men's Wear. The rumbling opening guitar riff on "Conversations In The Kitchen" is emblematic of the band's sound. The re-recording of the old favorite "Theme Song For A Quarter-Life Crisis" makes perfect sense for the working punk motif. In the months since this EP's release, "Tiger Mask II" has become one of my favorite songs on it. Listen to 9xTOx5xCORE here. Oh, and if you want to call me Philadelphia Collins, go right ahead.

The Cheap Dates - Piss Away Another God Damn Year

The debut EP from Chicago's The Cheap Dates is full of catch melodys laced with attitude. For anyone who does not know, my brother is in this band, so take this recommendation for what you will. "She's In Love With A Rock N Roll Girl" remains one of my favorite songs on this release. The storytelling is executed in exciting fashion. "Daily Commute" and "Hamm's Patrol" are rippers. There is a lot of fun on this EP. These songs pack a punch live. Listen to Piss Away Another God Damn Year here.

Days N' Daze/Night Gaunts split

This has been a big year for Houston's Days N' Daze. They were on the Cracktoberfest tour and were on the new Leftöver Crack album. They just announced that they are working on a new album to release next year. Before any of that came to light, they released this excellent split with New Zealand's Night Gaunts. The two bands toured together earlier this year as well. Night Gaunts' half showcases their spacey hip-hop/ska Mad Conductor-y sound. Their cover of Days N' Daze's "Post Party Depression" does what the best covers do: take a great song and translate it into your band's sound to make it your own. Days N' Daze's half pumps up the crusty folk punk the band for which the band is known. All I can say about this split is that it really should be on vinyl. Listen to it here.