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This album is the swan song for the Boston-based band The Stairs, and it's a sprawling and messy affair. There is some Modest Mouse-style indie rock, some psychedelic pop, some distorted garage punk, and even some "Stray Cat Strut" kind of business. Most often they call to mind the expansive stylings of Grandaddy ("Don't Abandon Your Band," for instance) or the Flaming Lips ("The Psychic's Wrong Again"), although parts of this disc bring to mind other artists as disparate as They Might Be Giants and Tom Waits. There's a loose, kind of ramshackle feel to the songs, and the album seems like the assembled work of different songwriters and recording sessions, so it's kind of a disjointed listen. That said, I have to admire the breadth of imagination on display, and even though there are a few grating tracks, there are some real unpolished pop gems to be found here as well, like "Escape Clause" and the GBV-esque "Einstein & His Enemies." (mike.10.05)
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