After the elegant, introspective romantic narratives of and the beautifully crafted but restrained textures of , it was hard not to wonder if was ever going to turn up the amps and let go nuts on guitar again. For more than a few fans the opening cut from 's 2006 album , will feel like the reassuring sound of a homecoming -- ten minutes of noisy six-string freak-out, with 's thick, malleable basslines and 's simple but subtly funky drumming providing a rock-solid framework for 's enthusiastic fret abuse. After the thematic and sonic consistency of their previous two major albums, marks a return to the joyous eclecticism of 1997's , though nearly ten years down the road sounds noticeably more confident in their embrace of different styles and less hesitant in their technique on this album -- even 's gloriously unkempt guitar solos start to suggest a certain degree of well-earned professionalism. The songs also sound a shade less playful and more disciplined, though the group's ability to bring their distinct personality to so many different styles attests to their continuing love of this music and the quiet strength of their vision -- the neo- -ian of the homey horn-punctuated the plaintive on the aggressive Farfisa-fueled minimalisms of and which suggests a track transcribed to piano and then used as the root for a eight-minute exercise in low-key atmospherics, all function on a different level and each one satisfies. What's both engaging and impressive about is that, as usual, these 15 songs always end up sounding like , whether they're upbeat or dense loop-based drones, and if there's a bit less childlike elan here than in the past, there's also an intelligence and joy that confirms is still one of the great treasures of American , and they haven't run out of ideas or the desire to make them flesh in the studio just yet. ~ Mark Deming