Album Review: Super Animal Brothers III by EAR PWR

I’ve never seen an episode of The Wire, the general logic being that I’d either hate it and feel like I’ve somehow failed as a human being, or else like it and become one of those horrible bores who yak on about it in that peculiar way that seems only to be shared with readers of car magazines. But I get the general impression: Baltimore is kind of grim. No Dixon Of Dock Green is gonna clean that town up.

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In response to having his music referred to as "childlike" over and over again by publication after publication, Ear Pwr's aesthetic forebear, Dan Deacon, said "Getting pigeonholed sucks shit. " Devin Booze and Sarah Reynolds, who make up Ear Pwr, clearly don't have that hang-up, since their entire busy, neon, sloppy, smiley aesthetic is devoted to maintaining a youthful image. Their album cover features two shirtless, awkward characters playing in a pile of Legos.

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Plenty of bands falter when their ambition outstrips their ability, but for Baltimore's EAR PWR, the problem is exactly the opposite. It's hard to get mad at the fun, shallow Super Animal Brothers III, unless you're the sort of person who's infuriated by neon sunglasses and haphazard leotard combinations on principle, in which case, prepare to get heated. It feels like they'd do better if they dropped the postures and affectations that dilute the album and instead focused on fleshing out their songs, which are sown with the seeds of good ideas.

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