Austin Sound

The Midgetmen excel at pop-punk mayhem, beer-soaked bursts ripe with unapologetic arrested development: as they declare in “Three Chords and a Cloud of Dust”: “Growing up is overrated!” The group’s third album follows through on the sentiment, raucous and uninhibited. But Showpony also proves their most melodically controlled and, dare we say, mature offering yet. There is still plenty of rambunctious absurdity – a song like the 55 second shot “Bunk Sock” couldn’t be more adolescent, or irresistible behind the garage swagger and “Blitzkrieg Bop” riffs, as the quartet paws, “I wanna take you out to the movies, bring ya home and play with those boobies tonight!” If the Midgetmen have built their reputation on those kind of declarations, however, it only makes sincere moments like “Trickle Down” stand out that much more.