The Draft: The Draft

Ever since the dissolution of Hot Water Music, The Draft has bravely carried on three of its four original members. Following up last year’s debut In a Million Pieces, this extended play of brand news, titled simply Digital EP, toys with the extreme irony of a former punk band releasing their music via the Internet, but that’s about the only thing it’s got going for it. The band have become far too lax and streamlined to appeal to the punk fans Hot Water Music found favor with, yet at the same time it’s too rough to attract any radio attention. These raw recordings, built largely around basic fills and throaty vocals, should have been scrubbed up and developed a little more for a future full-length; rather than rushed out looking and sounding like demos. Opener “Stop Wasting My Time” demonstrates this unassuming EP perfectly: while it might be of interest for diehards, it’s too generic to be picked up by anyone else.