jj n*3

The new trend among bands has turned from naming themselves after woodland creatures to naming themselves after repeated letters of the alphabet. First the xx came along with its pulsing R&B grooves, and now jj is back with their second full-length, n*3.

The mysterious Swedish group pays homage to the seething French New Wave film Jules et Jim with their name and to the New Wave music movement of the '80s with their bubbly synths and electric drums. Musically, they're not quite as experimentally extreme as new labelmates Yeasayer, but they reach toward the same eclecticism with ethereal New Age sounds, traces of post-punk, Caribbean drums, and a mix of electric strings. If this sounds like a mess, you're mistaken; it works quite nicely, but it still isn't half as interesting as the verbal description.