Part of the incessant garage rock revival, The Break-Up offer some raucous, stylish, nervous rock 'n' roll replete with jangly guitars, precise drumming, heavy bass, and of course some exceedingly brash, trashy vocals; in other words, this Brooklyn five-piece basically feature elements similar to those of a majority of their peers on their five-song She Went Black EP. Some extra dynamism, however, is added with the inclusion of keyboards and sweet-sounding backing female vocals.

This is not a bad release by any means, as it's energetic and catchy, but this garage trend has been becoming just that - a trend. Now are these guys (forming in 2003) genuine, truly in it for the music and the art of songwriting, or is it merely contrived? I, for one, do believe they're for real, as they've played in numerous bands prior to forming this act. And certainly, if you're into this genre, The Break-Up are a great band to check out, as they play with exuberant youthful vigor and have created some truly cool compositions, namely the urgent "Life of Crime" during which vocalist Jamie frantically sings/implores lyrics like "I can't understand a single word/Can't understand if you're a boy or a girl," and the slightly more subdued "One Little Sign" that features more prominent vocals from keyboardist Allie, which add some more texture to the song. The Break-Up will most likely be strutting their stuff all over the U.S. while on tour during the summer.

www.thebreak-upmusic.com