Reviews

For whatever reason, I'm a sucker for interesting album artwork, so getting the Bad Kids EP by Emily Jane Powers made me a bit giddy. Put together in true DIY fashion, a golden picture of a little kid on a beach is cut to the contours of the white wave on the black cover and literally taped to it. The disc itself has a plain white covering, labeled "Bad Kids" in tall lettering and numbered. Also included is a little drawing of a monster with a speech bubble indicating the numbering of the CD, initialed “ejp.”
 
The EP itself is five tracks. The first (“You'd Better Close Your Eyes”) and third (“Ivory Gold”) are the slower tracks on this effort. The light and airy, free-spirited vocals of Chicago's Emily Jane Powers (originally from Ann Arbor, MI) hang over the acoustic guitar. The opener is made more complex and interesting by the violin near the end, which appears on a couple other tracks on this EP.
 
While this pair of tunes is decent, EJP shines on “Once Again” and “Devil's Sympathy.” Both are light and have a similar style to Defiance, OH. Overall, the songwriting on these tracks seems a little more solid and the playfulness of the songs suit the sound of EJP a bit better.
 
Bad Kids closes with a track called “And It Was Then I Realized.” It's a well constructed instrumental that provides a constant build, spends some time featuring the violin and guitar, and ends with a quick halt from the snare drum.
 
Overall, it's not the best collection of indie/folk songs out there, but it's an honest collection that bears the signature of its artist. It sticks out from the pack mainly due to Emily Jane Powers’ personality, which shines through in every tune.