You can make comparisons to Funeral, and at first blush the new record doesn't seem to have as many catchy tunes. But I didn't realize there were catchy tunes on the first record until I started listening to the songs in isolation - as pop songs, rather than just tracks on an eccentric Neutral Milk Hotel sort of record.
What really makes the album work is the overall confidence of the band. You get the sense that they feel like they can do anything right now and it will work. And it does. They are completely convincing, and this confidence gives the album a magisterial sweep and coherence that I don't think it would have otherwise. Even the album closer, "My Body is a Cage" which should be terrible with its pseudo-Blues Man holler, or whatever it's supposed to be, is actually good.
So listen up, kids. Confidence sells.
Anyway, I really like it. Favorite tracks so far:
- Black Mirror
- Keep the Car Running
- Intervention
- Antichrist Television Blues
