While
Dust Bunnies is a tighter, more melodic album than
Bettie Serveert's flawed second record
Lamprey, it doesn't necessarily return the band to the heights of
Palomine. Musically,
Dust Bunnies is no different than its two predecessors, and the group's lack of development is a little bit eerie -- it's one thing to have a distinctive sound and quite another to make two albums that sound like outtakes from your debut. Instead of developing or refining their sound,
Bettie Serveert stay within their self-imposed boundaries, crafting small, simple jangle-pop songs that never rock too hard or sound too soft. Occasionally, as on "Co-Coward" and "Sugar the Pill," they create wonderful pop gems, but too often the music never is anything more than pleasant.