The Brooklyn-based duo of cousins Ev Gold and Paul Claro, better known as Cinema Cinema, really up their punk cred on their new EP, Shoot the Freak. The short, three-track release is marketed as the first taste of a double-disc worth of material recorded with producer/engineer Don Zientara, who has previously worked with big-name punks like Fugazi, Minor Threat, and Bikini Kill. While the three songs on Shoot the Freak clearly take a lot of the ground that those bands laid, to say that Cinema Cinema has their same power or exuberance would be a stretch.

Gold’s guitar dominates EP opener “Lady Abortion”, chugging rhythm and free-range, distorted solos edged over the top. The track gets a bit too busy at times, the vocals gritty and tough, almost dipping into Jello Biafra territory with its growls, but with more bass. Claro’s drums are instinctively edgy and rapid, producing in the track a pulsing heart. But once everything mixes together, it turns into something that falls too close to classic rock to have much punch, lacking a memorable hook.

“Pleased to Meet You, Anesthesia” follows, a drug anthem for one of the last drugs without its own anthem, at least to my knowledge. The song sounds like something that Sonic Youth would toss off on a lark, thinking better than to follow through with serious work. Lyrics like “I’d swim the channel just to greet you/but I can’t swim/I can’t float” are a bit too indulgent to mean much.

Closing the set is “Day-Leash”, the grungy intro of which may be the best bit of the EP. The chugging guitar and stomping bass drum carry more than their weight, leaving behind only a demand for more. The big, riffy conclusion to the song isn’t bad, but it doesn’t have the same power and swagger that the intro thrived on. In all, it’s not worth writing off a future Cinema Cinema LP, but the EP isn’t something to go back to for many repeat listens.