In writing in January about the first release from Planning the Rebellion, the college-age duo of brothers Robert and Scott Cerny, I said, "The band excels when it embraces its electronic elements fully." (See "Unwasted Youth," River Cities' Reader Issue 614, January 3, 2007.)

I mention this because for their second recording, bafflingly titled Volume 2, the Quad Cities-bred Cernys seem hell-bent on making a fool out of me, or at least calling my judgment into question. The self-recorded CD - roughly 30 minutes of music in nine songs - chucks the electronic processing until the coda that is the final track, and instead tries to skate by on voice, acoustic guitar, and piano.

And we're not talking about built-up layers; the Brothers Cerny stick with simple melodies, and even harmony vocals are rare. The gall!