Fans that were disenchanted with 's 2004 foray into keyboard-driven melodrama, the eclectic and exhilarating , will find this six-track companion piece to be the perfect elixir. Fresh off of his tour with fellow Canadian carny-barkers , the mastermind has concocted a raw, tense, and equally thrilling EP of guitar-heavy reworkings of material with as the house band. For the most part, things sound blissfully loose -- in that tight-when-it-counts, "we've been on the road for a long time" kind of way. Songs that were once plaintive and atmospheric, such as and are now -style dirges, and quirky anthems like take on a whole new sense of desperation. The insular keyboard lead that fueled is still there, but this time around it's distorted and distant, leaving room for screamer to trade off banshee wails and nebulous moans. The band as a whole sounds delightfully panicked, causing its high-energy performance to feel both lived in and ripe for exorcism. is heady and brief, but it needs to be, as its possessed ringleaders are two of 's most insistent and volatile characters. ~ James Christopher Monger