On the Noon Under the Trees EP, the Rock*a*Teens continue their winning streak of fine releases while also managing their tricky balancing act between evolving in sophistication and maintaining the raw emotion and intensity that's one of their defining strengths. That sophistication involves a richness of texture, achieved through a variety of keyboard sounds: the synth-like, buzzing "Runaway" organ of "These Starving Heartists," the ringing, detuned keyboard that decorates "Inseperable," or the electric piano that opens "To Lady Ben and All Her Friends." Those keyboards don't dominate the sound, though, nor are the band's typically clattering guitars underplayed; only that the keys complement the guitars with their own brand of clatter and lend the band a denser instrumental attack. The hugely spacious, Spectoresque sound treatment familiar from their earlier albums is still here, but now the relatively spare textures of their early recordings (two guitars, drums, vocals, no bass) are matched by an equally dense mix of instruments. That sound remains: you're unlikely to hear isolated, close-up sounds on a RATS record; the songs' intimacy comes with the chaos that surrounds it in the world. That intimacy amidst chaos is a large part of the band's emotional intensity; for example, "I Don't Eat Sweets" brings the patented RATS chaos through a mixed-up Bo Diddley beat and suitably ragged drumming and backing vocals. And as always, the lyrics' desperate and desolate romanticism connect with listeners' hearts along the frayed thread of Chris Lopez's singing. His impassioned hoarseness suggests both the desire to withstand the hot, southern, noonday sun and the exhausted yet proud retreat into the faded shade of the trees. There are no half-measures for the Rock*a*Teens.

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