This is a reissue of a 1998 EP and a 7”. It is singer/songwriter material played with a band, but the band plays a very supporting role. The sound is centered on the lead guitar and vocals and recoded with a pretty low-fi, earthy sound. Glenn Kotche, the new Wilco drummer is on here, which is cool. Mills has raspy, evocative vocals, which sound better when he tones them down a bit. I am torn by this album. On the one hand, many songs have what I can best describe as a “Gusterish-this-sound-goes-over-well-among-college-sophomores-starting-to-play-acoustic-guitar” tag. Meaning that Mills really lets his acoustic G,C, and D chords ring-out, which ends up eclipsing the songs. The lyrics generally mirror the pleasant, non-cutting edge arrangements. On the other hand, this is not bad by any means. At his best, like track seven or one, Mills comes off as a promising Townes-Van-Zandt influenced folk/country/rock musician instead of Guster. So I guess overall it has the unfocused sound of “early work.”
-Matt M.

1. *Mid-tempo – Band - easy acoustic strumming number – not overly complex arrangement, but super pleasant.
2. Down-tempo – a country/folk solo acoustic
3. Down-tempo – only 1:02. I like his vocal delivery here – more straightforward.
4. *Up-tempo – Band – this one actually made it to the radio a little bit in the mid-west – rootsy rock sound with a catchy hook.
5. Mid-tempo – Band - not a bad song – a bit more mature lyrically than the others.
6. Down-tempo – has some cool mandolin – a little drawn out.
7. *Down-tempo – Band - very cool song – about killers. Nice accordion – has a little of Springsteen’s “Nebraska.”
8. Up-tempo – Band - another version of track one – this one is much less polished – more treble – it is shorter and has a little more guitar work, but is missing the country rhythm that makes the first one sound a little like a Son Volt song, which is never a bad thing.
9. Mid-tempo – I like the title a lot – “keep the corpse beautiful” – song is pretty mediocre.