Biding time at a juncture when they don't necessarily need to, released the odds-n-sods collection in November 2007, a mere 13 months after their second album, . If the title suggests that the group is digging further into a preposterous fixation on faux Americana, this grab bag of B-sides, new songs, covers, stray tracks, and re-recordings feels more like a sop to the fans who found the worship hard to stomach. There's not as much here but the ghost of still lingers, particularly in the clatter of the echoing guitars, but that's married to ' studied new wave moves, which is a better fit for that sweeping sound anyway. Better fit doesn't necessarily mean a perfect fit, however -- the return to ' stylish throb only emphasizes their scattershot songwriting, where they can get elements right but they can't quite tie it all together. Tellingly, the best moments are leftovers from -- whether it's the cool glam groove of the leftover or which does the cod-Americana better than -- but too much of the newer stuff clatters around pointlessly, all pomp and no circumstance. This goes double for the directionless duet which plays as if decided to have sing on , then it goes triple for a stupifyingly silly where seem like kids in cowboy hats even more than they did when they were kicking around the desert outskirts of Vegas. Covers don't treat well at all, as they reveal how hammy is at his core (swapping 's sly, dry delivery for ' community theater bluster robs of its delicate beauty). When is in his natural setting, supported by glistening waves of keyboards and guitars that ring like synths, that ridiculous theatricality can be a bit of a guilty pleasure, and does indeed contain some moments of grand pomp, but its scattershot nature works against the band as it winds up emphasizing the lingering question from , that have a hell of a lot of ideas but they just don't know what the hell to do with them. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine