Three long years after issued their self-titled album to puzzling reviews, the Sacramento quintet is back with , a recording that will further muddy the waters about who they are and what they're trying to do. After the breakthrough metallic-sounding , the band confounded critics and fans alike with the much softer and atmospherically adventurous . In 2003 they further transgressed the borderlines of all things boxed and tied with their self-titled album, which seemed to walk the line between rockist and "sensitive." But it's that fills out the portrait, bleeding though textures from one type to another and coming up with something else altogether yet definitively " ." The album began with a question and a small conflict in deciding on a producer. Already working with the hip , after some internal drama the band decided on veteran . pays off in a number of ways: these songs, as diverse as they are, are utterly disciplined sonically. They have all the tension and dynamic, all the immediacy of yore, but the mix is spacious, and 's vocals soar above it. That said, the vocals were produced by 's . The wall of guitar sound walks a high wire between harder, more metallic and angular , winding them together. Check the opener -- and single -- It begins with a wall of feedback and thunderously distorted guitars accented by rim shots and cymbal fire before giving way to a skeletal six-string figure that seems barely able to support 's singing, which combines the euphoria of a young, less pretentious with the attack of, well, . Guitars echo and whisper all along the backdrop while hovers there, until they crackle and spit to bring him back. Popping muddy drums and distorted guitars introduce as gobs and screams the lyrics. Even here, the attack is straightforward as it turns and twists, all on sharp corners and rhythmic shifts. There are killer digital effects put into play on giving the tune a bit of a blessed-out effect as the band marries together the hookery of the vintage , the big chord riffs of , and 's best shimmer while tossing in a bridge of eight bars from from ! It might have been a terrible mess, but it works beautifully. helps out with additional vocals on and helps out on (what a dumb title). The drippy that is finds breathing a little too close to for comfort on the verses. The gear-grinding guitars on are a welcome textural change, and the crunchy verse and refrain are downright nasty. The most straight-ahead attack comes on with its bass throb and whiteout guitar riff; it pushes a little further outside the tune to come to terms with it. Ultimately, is satisfying, though it may take a few listens given all the changes in individual cuts that tend to blur together the first time or two through. To the faithful, once again offer up their own brand of blast and croon. As for everyone else, there's plenty here to like, to argue with, and to be puzzled by . ~ Thom Jurek