Psst! New Jersey hardcore rockers Ensign have a full-length CD out! If you've seen them perform, either in their own milieu or on tour with Sick Of It All, you already know what to expect from this hardcore band of hardcore bands. If not, let me clue you in: sheer rage in music form! Cast the First Stone is a continuous barrage of bass-heavy riffs, jack-hammer beats and aggressive vocals. If you need music to trash your living room by, I can heartily recommend Cast the First Stone! Let's run down a couple of the tracks, shall we? "Fade Into Years" is idiomatic, an 'angry youth'-type deal with lyrics like "As our youth gets stripped away, days fade into years / it's time that we, WE take it back." I really like "Waiting for the Breakdown"; it's a nice, ranting diatribe against those who can't deal with things not categorizable (like angry, anti-social youth perhaps?). A similarly pointed jab is "Winner Takes All", which decries hypocrisy and divisiveness within the scene. The track that most encapsulates all of hardcore to me is "D.B.C.". Clocking in at a mere 30 seconds, it is essentially Ensign saying "Fuck You" to their detractors (their words -- not mine). Hey, these guys have boot-strapped themselves up from the underground through sheer will power and raw anger. It's nice to see them doing well. And I can honestly say is that I'd hate to be "D.B.C." right now!