With The Bird of Music , Au Revoir Simone continue their quest to make the prettiest music you’ve ever heard. This time around, the “three keyboards and a drum machine!” novelty has worn off a bit, and the Brooklyn-based threesome’s sugar and spice routine sounds tired and rote. For a band named after a line from a Pee-Wee Herman flick, Au Revoir Simone seem as humorless as stale Wheaties. It doesn’t help matters that the old school drum machine often weights down their flowing melodies and angelic voices. Around the seventh track, the ladies finally take off the (kid) gloves, let their hair down, and have some fun (“Stars” and “Night Majestic” are album standouts), but by then it feels too late—this bird has flown.

• "Fallen Snow" MP3