**1/2 Wolfie

WOLFIE AND THE COAT AND HAT

(Kindercore/Emperor Norton)

The Champaign/Urbana-based Wolfie's last record, 1999's Where's Wolfie, was so sugary and irresistible, even they were embarrassed. Their latest, the six-song EP Wolfie and the Coat and Hat, is intended to showcase a newly grown-up Wolfie who are trying to be edgier and less eager this time around. The Coat and Hat doesn't sound all that much different: at this point, Wolfie probably can't help coming off as a bunch of really sweet, really sunny 20-year-olds, even when they're singing about environmentalist Rachel Carson ("she wrote a book") or doing one of their uncanny Built To Spill imitations ("All the Good People"). So the mood here is set by the sprightly post-kinderpop bounce of "It's Hard Luck Being Me," the frequent use of an organ as the lead instrument, and a (mostly charming) indifference to production values. Lead singers Joe Ziemba and Amanda Lyons trade off on vocals without sounding like Sonny and Cher. Chalk this up as a straight-ahead indie-pop offering intended to mark time until the band's next full-length, which is scheduled for release in a few months.

-- Allison Stewart