Needle Gun, a noise band formed in Baltimore by four teenagers in 2006, feels like a bit of an anomoly. Historically, the noise scene in Baltimore seems to be defined largely by solo improvisors, or home recording projects. But Needle Gun, in addition to being much younger than the average noise act, are a live band with a firm lineup who play rock venues, and their music isn’t purely improvised. Still, they are clearly connected to, and embraced by, the estabished Baltimore noise scene, as evidenced by their ties to Ehse Records, who released their recent album Afternoon Computer Umbrage, and Twig Harper of Nautical Almanac, who produced the disc.

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Running only 28 minutes, Afternoon Computer Umbrage is a compact display of the many sounds Needle Gun is capable of, and is actually longer than most of the band’s notoriously brief live sets. Scraping guitars, squealing feedback, lo-fi drums, electronics and occasional screamed vocals occasionally rise up together, but more often than not drift along as disjointed suites of sound. The opening “AU” and the closing “End AU” serve as bookends and two of the longest tracks, with the latter offering a feast for the ears as strange textures seem to wander around before colliding and building to a shambling, cymbal-bashing groove. There’s no big noise rock catharsis in Needle Gun’s music, nor is there much in the way of particularly bizarre sonic experimentation, but the loose playfulness with which they push around sounds is oddly invigorating.