The Emotional Plague
has the unique ability to draw a listener happily through some of the most indirect and seemingly unfocused constructions of
the Dicks
' recorded work -- even the record's most rambling and apparently directionless moments have the quirky twang and casual beauty of
the Silver Jews
' best work, or
Yo La Tengo
's homespun
Fakebook
. The key seems to be an underlying organization that's carefully disguised in
' folky drawl -- beneath all of the sprawling quirkiness of
, there are simply gorgeous tunes like
"Cuchulain,"
and the oddity of the band's presentation sets them off perfectly. Strangely enough, this distinction renders
as one of
' most accessible (if least immediate) albums -- rather than the vaguely eerie psychedlic folk which characterized
The Unexamined Life
, the record's emphasis is on sparkling, rustic constructions which add a necessary emotional element to the band's sonic idiosyncracies. ~ Nitsuh Abebe