Say this for New York duo The Austerity Program: they're aces at thinking outside the box. To celebrate the release of Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn, the group is offering a series of prizes to anyone who can take a picture illustrating a lyric from one of their songs. Depending on which lyric the entrant chooses, someone could end up in jail.

That same adventurous spirit applies to their music: like a pitbull, the group is both tiny and fierce. Their songs boast nasty bass thrum, sudden, violent squalls of apocalyptic guitar and Justin Foley's ragged, unaffected vocals. As the title of the EP implies, the duo's concerns are religious: Foley, on "Song 26," howls, "If you've been reading the Word/ you know the end days are on us… " just before total chaos ensues. It's enough to strike the fear of God into anyone.