I discovered OUST from Amsterdam through their latest EP A Girl Can Dream, released by Rope or Guillotine Records, after a friend sent me a link to it. And those barely eight minutes definitely didn’t leave me feeling indifferent.

The three tracks, “Idiots,” “Shoot a CEO,” and “There Is Only Hope in Action,” are packed with anger, frustration and the feeling that the world is completely fucked up. Musically, it’s a sharp mix of punk, d-beat and hardcore, able to switch from a full-speed attack to heavier and slower passages in no time. No polish, no unnecessary bullshit. Just anger turned into music.

The lyrics are one of the strongest parts of the whole release. “Idiots” takes aim at people who blindly fall for lies and manipulation. There’s a real sense of frustration at how easily fear and propaganda can become tools for making people accept things they normally wouldn’t.

“Shoot a CEO” is probably the most aggressive moment on the whole release. OUST react to the huge gap between the wealth of those at the top and the lives of people who are struggling just to survive. Both the title and lyrics are deliberately provocative, playing with the idea of violent revenge against the representatives of the corporate world. There’s no polished political analysis here, just an explosion of anger at how far things can go when money is valued more than human lives.

For me, though, the strongest track is the closing “There Is Only Hope in Action.” It carries exhaustion with politics, propaganda, oppression and the feeling that everything keeps coming back around. But this is also where A Girl Can Dream moves beyond pure anger. OUST are tired, and they say it’s wearing them down every day, but at the same time they refuse to give up. For them, hope isn’t about sitting around waiting for things to change by themselves. Hope is action.

A Girl Can Dream is a short release, but definitely not a small one. Three songs, barely eight minutes, and plenty of things that stay in your head long after the final hit. It’s angry, loud, uncomfortable and, at the same time, surprisingly alive. Not because OUST believe everything is going to turn out fine, but because they refuse to just sit around and wait.

OUST are tired. OUST are pissed off. But they’re still fighting. And that’s what hit me so hard about this release.