4x****
The album is a mellow pastiche of melodic styles, starting with the colorful "Lizard Brain" on accordion. "Corpus Callosum" is inexplicble positioned as a lead-off track; though interesting it is completely lacking in a hook. Melodic and groovy "Saints" is more conventional, but at least there's a song that builds to something. "The Only Reason The Club Was Made"**** finally pays off with an instatly catchy riff and a chorus taking an unexpected turn. "Carrier Pigeon"**** is another straightforward rocker, taking kind of a minor new wave direction. The middle of the album is filled out more punky, electronic "Flipped Out", to sweetly mellow "49 Red", and "Marine Parade Road", similar to Trembling Blue Stars. By "Oh Drone" the plot seems to be lost, as we literally get an annoyingly repititive high school geometry lesson in "Pythagorean Therom" - though the sound is pretty cool if the words can be ignored. "Everybody Sits Around The Table"**** starts as kind of Pavement with more heart, and builds to a festival of bending guitar noise. "Nowt" starts very mellow but builds to a loose and atmospheric The National fanfare. Closing acoustic "The Tube Song"**** is pretty and well-constructed.
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