This band's movement from small releases to major-label distribution turned out quite well -- like a lot of other brilliant pop bands, they managed to make their sound cleaner and more focused without compromising any of the quirks that made it interesting. It would be an oversight to talk about this album (or this band) without mentioning , , and -- does a spectacular job of taking appealing melodies and hooks and slanting them into angular, off-kilter indie -- but have the skill and intelligence to never actually sound like the aforementioned bands. ~ Nitsuh Abebe