Screw all that wistful emo crap. The New Rivals are slinging pure aggressive, hard-rocking punk, and hurling beers at the tears of anyone who’s not along for the fast-paced ride.

Whether waking up in a strange hotel room flanked by two ladies or getting lost in a strange town and nearly missing a festival appearance, this Long Island-bred quintet is having more fun than, well, just about any other band out there, and it shows in the hyper-energetic rhythms, raw and ragged riffs, and impassioned vocals on their brand new EP, Fire for Effect, and their forthcoming eponymous debut.

“It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, we’re always having a great time,” says mohawked frontman Toby Bevis. “It keeps us eternally young.”

Youthful energy is something this band of childhood buddies knows more than a thing or two about. The New Rivals owe their cohesive sound and enviable camaraderie to years of playing, practicing and honing their sound together.

“We have all been friends since middle school,” Bevis recalled. “Me, and guitarists Johnny [Hudson] and Kenny [Andersen] just one day decided we were going to start a band.” Adding bassist Tito McElvoy and drummer Joe Morrione to the mix, the band began to unearth its own brand of impossibly powerful, literate punk rock.

Fire for Effect, the EP that’s building anticipation for the band’s forthcoming full-length debut, is a four-song punk rock assault, brimming with electric energy that will leave listeners aching for more.