The Tragically Hip - EP

The Hip’s 1987 debut EP introduces us to a band that’s clearly in thrall to the post-punk pop of R.E.M.: the opening double shot of “Small Town Bringdown” and “Last American Exit” radiates with jagged ‘n’ jangly guitars, paisley-hued harmonies, and early flashes of Gord Downie’s gift for cunning, cutting lyrics. But the raunchy blues-rock rave-up “Highway Girl” shows they could hold their own against a Saturday-night crowd of bottle-smashing drunks, while “I’m a Werewolf, Baby” highlights these future arena rockers’ unrealized potential as a campy, B-52’s-style surf-punk band.