Arriving just a few months after their very enjoyable EP, ' is relatively disappointing, with fewer memorable moments spread out over its 16 songs. Perhaps tellingly, two of the album's best moments already appeared on : is a brief, bittersweet tune from that, with witty lyrics like "then the people came to talk me down/but I don't need advice/I'm down" and gently weary harmonies, really captures the feeling of being a perpetual underdog. by contrast, finds a who's who of history and pop culture ranging from to getting a comeuppance. Unfortunately, most of 's other songs just aren't as memorable or fully developed as these tracks; while has a clever name and is a fun, bouncy throwaway, they sound more like B-sides or more fully developed s than album tracks. Though the album has been touted as one of more -oriented albums, doesn't really rock out any more than previous releases such as . Indeed, the album has a few other similarities to : the short, snippet-like songs and (which finds the band subverting the tight, dry production style of for their own warped purposes) feel a little bit like an update of 's tracks. meanwhile, is one of 's typically circular riddle songs a la The vaguely is similarly loopy, both in its backwards guitars and brain-twisting turns of phrase like "Sleeping is a gateway drug to being awake again." But references to drugs and 's homage to dirt-cheap wine aside, a good portion of sounds like it was fueled by pop rocks and Kool-Aid, particularly the merry, brassy of one of the band's best songs in quite a while. Still, many of the album's high points are on the mellow side, such as 's oddly poignant a lament for the flying-car, food-pill future that we've been promised since and still hasn't arrived yet. Because many of 's most interesting moments are also its quietest, the album has an off-kilter feel that goes beyond ' usual quirkiness. The album's penultimate track, is a song about being out of ideas, an idea they already covered on ; however, they've never written a song about a creative drought that's sounded so much like a creative drought before. Nevertheless, have bounced back from worse dry spells, and even if is decidedly uneven, it still has enough good songs to please diehard fans and keep them around for the next album. ~ Heather Phares