Berlin’s R.O.S.A. introduces themselves with Ugly Boys, a debut single that’s less an anthem and more a confrontation. It’s the first track off their three-song demo EP, available digitally and backed by a DIY video that leans into the same raw tension the band channels sonically.
Vocalist Hassan Haider and the rest of the four-piece lineup previously played in bands like Patsy O’Hara, Empty Vision, Tackleberry, and Ratfeast. With this new project, they’re distilling their collective background into a fast, aggressive sound that draws comparisons to acts like Primitive Blast, Spy, and Jivebomb.
The approach is direct: short songs, harsh delivery, no embellishment. All three EP tracks were recorded, mixed, and mastered by Alexander Pusch at the Berlin studio Obscured By Evil.
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But Ugly Boys doesn’t just ride on speed or noise. There’s a deliberate psychological atmosphere, a focus on internal rot. “Twisted paths, lost in sin / Inner demons dwell within,” Haider screams over a serrated riff that never lets up. The repetition of ugly boys, ugly boys / ugly, ugly / lost their joys drills the message deeper: something is festering beneath the surface.
The video, directed by Berlin filmmaker Hannes M. Meier, was shot without digital effects. “All effects were created practically – no digital filters,” the band notes. The central figure in the clip is El, a model and photographer whose performance mirrors the song’s internal chaos with sharp, confrontational movement. Body art by Hugo Trix adds to the raw physicality of the visuals.
Haider emphasizes the collaborative nature of the project: “That’s the beauty of the hardcore and punk scene: so many talented people are willing to support small bands like ours with their creativity.”
R.O.S.A. drops straight into a bleak landscape and invites listeners to sit with the discomfort. The debut drags its anxieties into the open, dressed in distortion and sweat. Looking forward for more.
