Epic, pissed off, emo-tinged rock from Portland (and Montana before that) a la Pixies, Nirvana, Lync, Drive Like Jehu, Modest Mouse, Cloud Nothings. It's pretty sprawling, rambling, prolix stuff (and sometimes endearingly dopey), but the overwhelming agitation and intensity and raging against suburban entropy makes the whole thing hang together. When I listen to this I think of my childhood friends who now hang out in abandoned lots and throw empty spray paint cans at one another. It's also a strong reminder that The Lonesome Crowded West is nearly 20 years old. FCC WARNING: 1, 2, 4, 7, 15, 16. [FCC clean] favorites: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

1. (6:21)—FCC. Too many bad words for radio. Too bad. It's a good song. “You aced your SAT / that's pretty cool you're so f***ing smart.”
2. (3:29)—FCC. Yeah, don't play this one either. “Ben's never tasted sauerkraut.”
3. (2:17)—Medium-slow, kinda upbeat and bouncy. Lots of falsetto. “We ate donettes til we were full.”
4. (6:06)—FCC (f***). Medium-slow, very reminiscent of a jammier Nirvana.
5. (2:38)—Mid-tempo, pretty standard 90s slacker alt-rock, with a sudden calm interlude.
6. (2:11)—Mid-tempo, loud, screamy. “Mix CDs with Modest Mouse.”
7. (1:47)—FCC (s***). Slow, loping, loud, with banjo.
8. (3:37)—Medium-slow, grungy, anthemic, depressive. “Won't you come see Pile with me?”
9. *(7:27)—Mid-tempo, long, loud jam, with a calm outro.
10. *(4:57)—Slow, with a lovely minimal start and a slow build. Gang vocals. Great song. “Halo 2 in 7th grade.” (I'm not making this up: that's a lyric.)
11. *(4:08)—Mid-tempo, propulsive, jittery. Then slow and loud. “You've got a sexy buff guy calendar up on the wall.”
12. *(3:36)—Mid-tempo, almost pop? Comes out swinging. Gang vocals throughout.
13. *(6:22)— Mid-tempo, loud-quiet-loud, screamy. Long climax. “I know I get bad Yelp reviews.”
14. (7:03)—Slow, rocking strut. “You picked a coma over your comrades / a vegetable at last.”
15. (8:26)—FCC (a*****e). Slow, dirgey. Stays at a tense simmer minute six. Pretty outro.
16. (2:23)—FCC (f***) Mid-tempo, relaxed slacker rock. “I just wanna believe that what I'm doing / means something to someone else / before I die and rot forever.”