Montreal trio The Unicorns just put out two very different new songs on a Suicide Squeeze seven-inch, "2014" and "Emasculate the Masculine". If there's common ground between the songs, it's that both seem somewhat unfinished, and far less developed than the material on last year's Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?-- which is somewhat a shame: "2014" opens promisingly in a whirlwind of catchy lo-fi Casiotones and hushed vocals atop bedroom dancepunk beats. But after that, The Unicorns try to replace melodies with textured builds and collapses, and it comes off somewhat flat. A potentially redemptive la-la-la chorus kicks in at the end, but only momentarily, and is unable to elevate this song from the unrealized chik-chik-chik ripoff it unfortunately is.

"Emasculate the Masculine" is much more straightforward, but perhaps to a fault. The song builds around bar-band guitar strums that have just enough quirk to recall-- for better or worse-- the similarly chicken-wirey outfit Cake. Rather than stuffing the track with hooks as in the past, The Unicorns, for whatever reason, keep their single melody to an unconvincing whisper. Eventually, guitars spin up a perfectly nostalgic Final Fantasy II melody that drives the song out, complete with cowbells, a hot synth riff, and a hidden but hooky grumble of noise that proves to be the song's poignant last breath. Sadly, though, nothing here invites the same enthusiasm of The Unicorns' debut.