Q And Not U Power

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Spaced between an equal number of EPs, the third full-length album by Washington D.C. trio Q And Not U, Power, would be better named "Nimble." There is no brute strength exhibited, instead Power is 13 tracks of bobbing, buoyant dexterity. For the most part post-hardcore skronking yelps have been replaced by an elastic smelting of buffed synths, rounded kicks and bass runs, more cleanly kempt yet still bristly guitars and falsetto rather than fractured cries, though there is still sinewy angularity in the second half, specifically the ramping squeals of "X-Polynation" and Fugazi-ish call-and-response of "Book of Flags." Q And Not U have not gone "New York," though hints of Talking Heads and the DFA might be traceable in the powerfully epoxied jitters.