Having dabbled with synth-driven pop and electro elements for a couple of singles released after , the brothers decided to run further from their past and immerse themselves completely in technology while making a concerted attempt to be less dour. With the smart addition of 's wife on vocals and keyboards (going by could have meant confusion with ), the group recorded their third and best album with . Packed with a surprising amount of emotional range and sounds into eight songs, succeeds in transporting the group out of the endlessly glum corner they had painted themselves into with a mix of the hopeful, the melancholy, the synthetic, and the organic. is the obvious highlight, a moody electro-pop classic sung by that became a favorite at several New York clubs. a proto-twee pop song (also sung by ), slackens the tension of with buoyant synth-percussion and a bright melody. The biggest gulf between songs exists with and ; the former is a hyper-speed electro instrumental that races along until being interrupted by a thunderclap that ushers in the latter, which uses little more than echo-heavy piano, acoustic guitar, and hardly-sung vocals. The remaining songs at their worst serve the whole and act as bridges to make the album flow deceptively well. (Some ears may have trouble with 's adjustment from moaning post-punk vocals to pop vocals -- he's no .) The flow could take several plays to become apparent, but it's time well spent. ' 1998 reissue nearly doubles the original version's running time with seven bonus tracks, including two additional mixes each of and the zip-bang electro revision of 's along with the 12" version of The mixes of don't add all that much value. (one of the finest songs not written or recorded by ) and (fragile, glistening pop) are excellent, however, and in its initial format would have been much stronger with their presence. ~ Andy Kellman