The New Loud

It’s no surprise that Milwaukee synth-pop band The New Loud has had its frothy songs played at Abercrombie And Fitch and Hollister Co. stores, but recently the crafty trio has been taking things in a more aggressive direction. “Don’t Dance” from the Can’t Stop Not Knowing EP is punctuated by stabs of screechy keyboards and sharp shifts in tempo that turn the song’s title into a warning. A dramatic overhaul of Radiohead’s “2+2=5” is similarly adventurous, though the relatively straightforward “Heaven” delivers a dependably soaring pop-rock high. The group’s salt-and-sugar quotient is similar on the 2010 full-length Measures Melt.

Updated 01/05/2011