World Series of Love

The crisp efficiency Midwest Product previously dabbled in takes center stage on the seven-track World Series of Love, released just over a year after their full-length debut. For better or worse, it displays more of the trio's dry sense of humor. This isn't just indicated in the title; the playful "Bank" plays out like a cover of a lost Silicon Teens song, with a detached but content drone (the younger brother of Adult.'s Nicola Kuperus?) intoning about the love he has for his job. "Dead Cat," the closest rival to Specifics' "Still Love in the Midwest" in terms of energy, includes strained vocals that might or might not be taking a swipe at early Ministry. The best moments are the less playful ones, where they also happen to maximize the value of their restraint and attention to detail. The brightest single moment is far and away "Duckpond," in which the trio takes on the kind of alternately introspective and blissful guitar-and-electronics wizardry — combining pop with experimentalism in a natural fashion — that Denmark's Manual has made his stock-in-trade. The song shows once again that, when at their most powerful, Midwest Product have the ability to make their electronics sound entirely human — as if they are breathing.