Even though it came out several months ago, I would be remiss not to mention this slice of minimal, formidable punk rock. The second 7” by this Austin, TX trio, Spock Fingers is the sound of a screeching force snapping out of its coiled restraints.

The title track, the faster of the two songs, lurches out of the gate with drums and bass, but it takes its time to morph from a spare but driving and catchy romp into a blast of hypnotic noise. The moment the band launches into full volume is awe-inspiring, massive but completely in line with the band’s minimal sound, a reminder that even three people can make a lot of racket. “Pink Pus,” on the flip side, is a grumbling dirge—heavy, noisy blues. I can understand the lyrics to these songs only about 35% of the time—I spent nearly an hour listening to the single just to determine if the songs had any FCC-violation words—but when the band is soaring through the music like a train tumbling into a canyon and you can hear the shouting of “Spock Fingers!” over and over, that doesn’t matter. This is rough, metallic, noisy energy.

That energy certainly transfers to their live show, as evidenced above in the video of “Spock Fingers” shot by Dump Footage. Another plus: it looks like Gerard Cosloy, co-owner of Matador Records, has listed this single as one of his favorite releases of 2012, hopefully a sign that this band will soon start getting the attention it deserves. Spray Paint for 2013.

Spock Fingers 7” is out now on S.S. Records.