British Sea Power

British Sea Power gets right down to business on Krankenhaus?. "Atom Main" blows open the five-song EP with crescendoing drums and guitars, a chorus echoing lead singer Yan's "I just don't get it" up to a climax that includes a cranked air-raid alarm. The next three songs revisit the new-wave sounds the band indulged on 2005's Open Season. "Down on the Ground" sounds sweetly nostalgic and well-suited to a John Hughes movie, while "Straight Down the Line" focuses on whispery bedroom vocals and light electronic melodies. "Hearing Aid" is decidedly darker, clanging with loss and filled with guitar reverb and bits of static and random noise. The EP's final cut, "The Pelican – Parts 1 & 2," launches BSP back into post-punk territory and finishes out its nine minutes with an extended psych-rock jam. 3 stars.