After the relative polish of -- dominated by concise, hooky songs and plenty of vocals -- took a bit of a step backwards on , which would prove to be the band's final album (at least prior to their reunion in 2001). The tunes on are longer and less structured than those on , the grooves are at once loopier and more prominent, and while most of the songs have vocals, the words take a definite back seat to the music. In a way, it sounds like a return to the good old days of , except that haven't given up anything they gained along the way -- the band sounds a whole lot tighter and more muscular than they did in their earlier days, and when they hit a groove, they cover a lot of territory they never would have dreamed of exploring only a few years before. If made sound like the world's smartest party band, then suggested they'd taken a few more classes and learned even more about groove. closed the book on (at least for a while), with the group sounding louder and prouder than when they started, but just as willfully eccentric and charmingly witty -- would that every band could manage such a feat. ~ Mark Deming