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Title: pretentious pretentiousness
Review: sorry but note the redundancy of the title above--there are much much much better hyperliterate kooks out there--and certainly far more melodic jangly pop bands working senses overtime these days. Quirky's an awful flavor of tar to brush a band with, but boy The Sugarplastic, Anton Barbeau, Sparklehorse, Yo La Tengo, Robyn Hitchcock, and The Black Watch ALL put out idiocincratic, MUCH more satisfying and beautiful records than this lot's done. the title track is all right. the lilting nature of a FEW of the melodies is pleasing, but boy does this record, for the most part, GRATE and CHAFE anyone who grew up on good quirk (XTC, Jazz Butcher, et alia). AVOID the decemberists' brand of "off" pop--i WANTED to like this. i really did. i played it around 7 times. It's boring and self-conscious. sad.
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