Cray Crays - Beehieve E.P. Beehive Recording Co.

Second release in the band's first year showcases pop with a punk-angled sucker punch

What’s withthe Cray Crays? This quartet hasn’t even marked its first full year together, yet this digital EP is already the group’s second proper release. I mean, these guys only got together last spring, and, just like their songs, show no signs of slowing down. They don’t just play fast — they are fast. For this recording, the band, which plays a kind of pop with a punk-angled suckerpunch, was in and out of Beehive’s Studios in three hours. “I Don’t Care” is a slick pop stampede, full of feedback, with reverb-soaked lead vocals whipped together with surf-foam-covered guitar riffs. The group excels at maintaining a careful balance between hurry-up-and-go rhythms and sweet melodies. Or, as guitarist-singer Noah Morrison surmised the lyrical content: “Somewhere based in occult party-time young love.”  —Jeff Milo

The Cray Crays will appear with Chit-Chat, Hellshovel and Acid Baby Jesus starting at 9 p.m. on Feb. 27, at the Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; majesticdetroit.com; craycrays.com.