Florida's A Jealousy Issue have created quite a buzz locally partly due to vocalist Duane being a one time member of Poison The Well. However, any accusations that AJI punch above their weight due to past associations will be discarded with this, their debut EP, which should see them rise to underground heroes. Equally, anyone expecting a Poison The Well clone band that have become common place of late will be happy to know that this is an entirely new proposition.

Having been recorded by Jeremy Staska (Poison The Well, Morning Again, Twelve Tribes) it goes without saying that the sound is spot on with every guitar crunch and clean melody captured to perfection. Opening track 'Burning Butterflies' is loud and abrasive as the drums pommel you to submission with a punk like tenacity. Duane's voice sounds like the effect of smoking 40 cigarettes a day for a life time as he scowls and barks his way through each song complimented by sharp sounding riffs, which have the tendency to up the tempo at any given moment. A few heart tugging melodies and spoken parts creep into the record with a slight emo feel helping to break up any monotony that can often ruin the best of hardcore albums. Although, for a band that have a name that lends itself to emo it shouldnt be too much of a surprise. This is most definitely a hardcore album though and 'Dollface' brings to mind a crowded show, which as is often the case, the entire room opens up with flailing arms and scissor kicks in the beat of a heart. AJI have that ability to make something from nothing thus bypassing the predictive and anticipatory build ups you experience with bands such as Poison The Well. It's to the point and heads straight for the jugular.

A few well selected soundbytes from films such as Fight Club are placed throughout the E.P and they suitably set the atmosphere and are in keeping with the music's overall vibe. One such quote being "put a gun to my head and paint the walls with my brains" from the aforementioned film should give you an idea.

At a time when hardcore comes more and more to the fore this should slot nicely into the current hardcore framework. It may sound formulaic in places but it still bodes well for improvement on future releases. At present this may be an album that will be appreciated most by those who have followed hardcore for a number of years rather than the casual listener.