Year of Dragon are a Brooklyn based post-hardcore featuring Brett Ackerman on guitars/vocals, Cory Pociluk Clufton on bass, Nathanael Murray on guitar/vocals and Michael Hoffman on drums/vocals. The ‘Wine into Water’ EP is packed full of grungy, melodic harmonies, and reeks beautifully of DC area post punk (although as New Yorkers I sincerely hope that isn’t taken offensively). There is a hint of surf in there and it harks back to the late 1980’s early 1990’s American indie/grunge/punk/D.I.Y. scene, which is unsurprising really as most of Year of Dragon’s members were involved in bands from that scene/era prior to starting this venture. The EP is the band’s first official release since their 2011 album ‘Tranquilizzzzzzzzzzzzers’. Comparatively ‘Wine into Water’ is more upbeat, and there’s a bit of refinement but without losing any of their underground feel. This is probably due in part to the band moving on from their original two-piece line up to the full band set up. You can feel there is more room for everything to breathe on this EP. The opening tune and title track is a catchy and sun-drenched number that kicks things off very promisingly. There’s a little bit of Husker Du in there, a little bit of Jawbox. If you like any of the Dischord records releases you will be enamoured with Year of Dragon. ‘Reverse the Writing’ has a bit of a Sunny Day Real Estate feel to it, showing the band’s mellower side. The final track ‘Repay’ was my own standout track coming up somewhere between Dinosaur Jr and ‘Repeater’-era Fugazi. ‘Wine into Water’ is a fantastic EP that leaves you wanting more. Hopefully this is a pre-cursor to more material in the none too distant future.