It’s interesting to watch a scene coalesce in real time, taking on a personal musical identity heard and felt by its denizens and noted by the music community at large. Baltimore is currently in the throes of such a revolution, finding itself awash in the Technicolor wink-and-nod glamour of recycled electro moves. Some of it, like the aurally literate compositions of scene leader Dan Deacon, is pretty riveting. Some is, well, not so much. Ear Pwr, the electronic duo of Devin Booze and Sarah Reynolds, falls into this camp. Super Animal Brothers III is so chock-full of overenthusiastic indie-club bounce it threatens instant epilepsy. Reynolds chirps out puerile and repetitive lyrics amid sirens, whoops and beats so thick and obvious they might as well be the preprogrammed drums from a cheap ’90s keyboard; amid SABIII‘s 16 tracks, only two stand out. “Future Eyes,” with its semblance of planned lyricism and dense trance wash, is a delight, its minor-key crypticism setting off Reynolds’s saccharine voice to remarkable effect. The other winner, oddly enough, is the title track. The make-believe lyrics are charming, and the vocal melody makes a perfect drunken-singalong party track. But a little of that goes a long way.
This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 1, 2009.
