Mixing guitar chords with shuffling breakbeats of various tempos in spy-chase like sequences, Books on Tape proclaims its stance as “beatpunk,” and features members of indie bands Bright Eyes and Slow Coach guesting with main man Todd Books. Forgiving the “we’re so punk that we’re making electronic music!” attitude, Throw Down‘s got occasional out-of-the-ordinary moments, mostly when some yelping vocals are thrown in, though any rawness they might possess is constrained by unyielding beats. The entire album feels flattened somehow, though, devoid of an energy that really ought to be leaping out at the listener. Seems “Books on Tape” is an appropriate moniker-colorfully good on paper, but a lesser rendering in 3-D.