Ear Pwr
(Carpark Records)
I heard "Future Eyes" from Ear Pwr's new release Super Animal Brothers III on the radio and took a chance to listen to the entire album. I was impressed with the song's addictive, super fast dance beat; unfortunately, a good chunk of the 34 minutes on Animal consists of nonsensical noise and mindless twaddle. Ear Pwr-which includes beat maker Devin Booze and singer Sarah Reynolds-aims for the immature and sheer silly with their beats and lyrics; and they succeed leaps and bounds. However, they tend to go off the deep end somewhat by pushing this equation.
Now, this is not to say that I am biased against artists who aim for the quirky and "out there" quality in their music. I dig Datarock, Fujiya & Miyagi, Yacht...these acts manage to lace their child-like, humorous lyrics over sophisticated beats. Thus, they convert their silly into charm. I find few charming moments here. Many of Ear Pwr's songs conjure images of erratic cartoon characters bouncing from all four corners of the screen while tripping on LSD AND mushrooms. The perfect song to illustrate this acid trip is "Sparkly Sweater;" here Reynolds sings "sparkly, sparkly, sweater/you're my favorite, you're my favorite."
Yet, in between the moments where I quickly reach for the "skip" button, a few tracks are indeed danceable and bearable. "Diamonds Liquor Leather" and "Discover Your Colors" have a great beat that gets you moving and both tracks compliment Reynolds kid like voice perfectly. Include the wordless track "Epic Suitcase," which does indeed have an epic quality to it, and the latter half of the album is redeemed. While I found a few notable tracks, I soon tired of the highly kinetic "rush" that is Ear Pwr.
Standout Tracks: "Diamonds Liquor Leather," "Epic Suitcase," APRIL S. ENGRAM
