Oh, FUCK. I’m more than a little disappointed with the Archers over this album. They’ve succumbed to the major-label production bug and all but destroyed their muddy, rugged sound, so now you can hear Eric Bachmann’s embarrassing lyrics. Grrr... this is probably a knee-jerk reaction because I loved Vs. the Greatest of All Time so much, and I’ll probably grow to love this CD, but right now it’s a bloody frustrating listen.
1 sadder than sad Pavement -- slow, beautiful, cooing in background
2, 3 decent rockers, not that great if compared to Icky Mettle or Vs.
4, 6 slower songs, not bad -- 4 says FUCK obviously
5 better songwriting, rockin’ song
7 --> 8 fuzzy static & minimal guitar into a straight midtempo rocker -- pretty standard
9 Cool. fuzzy yelling, atonal tweaky guitar
10 another “nice” tune, full-sounding w/trademark Archers out of tune soloing

-- Nick