Please Mr Gravedigger managed to make a considerable blip on the radar last year with the release of their well-received "Here's To The Life Of A Party" and "Throw A Beat" isn't an effort that's about to change that. A snarling collection of post-Refused modern punk, the material the band smash out of their instruments is loud and abrasive with lingering hints of detached 70's prog.

Obviously this puts them in league with the likes of The Blood Brothers and The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower, but rather than art-rock pomp or cacophonous noise, Please Mr Gravedigger instead opt to keep it simple and sleazy. Abrasive punky riffs flop about with psychotic glee as shrewd basslines and brash drumming keep up a rigid enough pace to ensure the bottom doesn't fall out. In turn the temperamental vocals are thus given the opportunity to scream and yell with a highly entertaining condescending swagger.

But while this all may sound fairly standard, the bands ability to mix in a few faded synth parts and electronics, plus a couple seventies styled riffs, actually put them in a spotlight of their own. Factor in some risks (ala the inclusion of equally as snotty female vocals on "Seventeen Year Old Piece Of Gold") and you have a punk-oriented release that actually sounds authentic and gritty.

Of course, the caveats of this are songs that for the most part clock in at under 3 minutes, leaving one with a realistic running time of about 12 minutes total (not counting the included hidden track which sees a tongue in cheek acoustic jam segue into a cover of N.W.A.). But considering this is an EP, the short bursts of genius on display here are still worth the price of admission, even if they are often only fleeting.