Take the Mickey

Scrappy, dark, comedic synth-punk isn't exactly a formula for surefire success. And on They Clean Up Nice, Take the Mickey isn't able to pull those elements into something compelling — or even mildly enjoyable. Then again, the EP's creation was plagued by misfortune: A hard-drive crash prior to a CD-release show in May left the band scrambling to rig a three-song disc out of the pieces of the originally planned five. Yes, that makes the title, chosen before the disaster, pitiably ironic. Take the Mickey deserves props for persevering and putting out Nice in the face of such tough luck; here's hoping the group gets the chance to show it can really shine when its full-length is released later this summer.