Coulier

Stickfigure Records

Screamy, thrashy emo bands are most effective when working within the confines of a single. Lashing out with no more than one or two songs at a time makes all the anger and spastic energy easier to swallow. When given too much room to release all of that lingering teen angst, the music tends to lose steam quickly.

Athens-based “screamo” outfit Coulier knows this well, and with its debut 7-inch, the group rages with just enough frenzied fortitude to keep things interesting. The A side “Call & Response” introduces the group as a force concerned less with spouting emotions than with unleashing unadulterated fury. Muddy sound quality adds character to the feel-good, trucker hat, party vibe. Big riffs chug along behind a shrill vocal presence that’s caustic enough to peel the paint off of the walls.

The B side “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” wafts in with more of a melodic sensibility, but in no time at all, the song turns into the same sonic splatter heard on the flipside. A sampled and nearly inaudible voice carries on a one-sided conversation somewhere in the chaos, but the low-budget production qualities — coupled with the cacophonous clatter of the music — obscures any meaning. Coulier churns out music for the body, not the mind.

Coulier plays Under the Couch Sat., Sept. 11. 8 p.m. $5.