The Sophtware Slump

Rolling Stone (6/8/00, p.124) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Exhilarating....a loose indie-rock suite about how sad and funny and fleeting technology actually is....[frontman Jason] Lytle's rigorous, knotty songwriting skills check his band's yen for indie-rock messiness..." Rolling Stone (6/8/00, p.124) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Exhilarating....a loose indie-rock suite about how sad and funny and fleeting technology actually is....[frontman Jason] Lytle's rigorous, knotty songwriting skills check his band's yen for indie-rock messiness..." Spin (p.51) - Ranked #6 in Spin's 'The Top 10 Reissues Of 2011' -- "[A] mini-epic about how technology didn't destroy us like we thought it might; ELO and Pink Floyd writ small." Spin (1/01, p.76) - Ranked #6 in Spin's "10 Best Records You Didn't Hear Of The Year [2000]" - "...Obsessively melodic snatches of indie pop..." Spin (1/01, p.76) - Ranked #6 in Spin's "10 Best Records You Didn't Hear Of The Year [2000]" - "...Obsessively melodic snatches of indie pop..." Entertainment Weekly (6/23/00, p.102) - "...Their melodies, earthy but otherworldly, infiltrate your head before retreating into space..." - Rating: A- Entertainment Weekly (6/23/00, p.102) - "...Their melodies, earthy but otherworldly, infiltrate your head before retreating into space..." - Rating: A- Q (1/01, p.91) - Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000". Q (6/00, p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...This year's chosen chunk of cosmic Americana...sounding like a lo-fi ELO and...possesses an admirably unusual songwriter....Cheap, cheerful and utterly charming." Q (1/01, p.91) - Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000". Q (6/00, p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...This year's chosen chunk of cosmic Americana...sounding like a lo-fi ELO and...possesses an admirably unusual songwriter....Cheap, cheerful and utterly charming." Uncut (p.103) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's the sense of oddly euphoric sadness that lingers most powerfully." Magnet (p.55) - "[E]verything about the California quintet's modestly epic exploration of technological and societal breakdown reeks of uncanny prescience -- especially lyrics." Magnet (1-2/01, p.45) - Included in Magnet's "20 Best Albums of 2000". Magnet (6-7/00, p.77) - "...Works within a tradition of records that owe as much to the Echoplex as they do to impending nervous breakdowns and squandered cash advances. And that's what makes it a keeper..." Magnet (1-2/01, p.45) - Included in Magnet's "20 Best Albums of 2000". Magnet (6-7/00, p.77) - "...Works within a tradition of records that owe as much to the Echoplex as they do to impending nervous breakdowns and squandered cash advances. And that's what makes it a keeper..." CMJ (1/08/01, p.12) - Included in CMJ's "Best of the Year" for 2000. CMJ (5/00, p.61) - "...Poignant and peculiar....suggesting a stoned...version of [the Flaming Lips'] eccentrics..." CMJ (1/08/01, p.12) - Included in CMJ's "Best of the Year" for 2000. CMJ (5/00, p.61) - "...Poignant and peculiar....suggesting a stoned...version of [the Flaming Lips'] eccentrics..." Melody Maker (5/9/00, p.52) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Low-budget artwork, fuzzy synths and utterly bizarre song titles...all ring large, Pavement-sounding alarm bells....[the] opening track 'He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot' [is] one of the most perfectly crafted songs you'll hear..." Melody Maker (5/9/00, p.52) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Low-budget artwork, fuzzy synths and utterly bizarre song titles...all ring large, Pavement-sounding alarm bells....[the] opening track 'He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot' [is] one of the most perfectly crafted songs you'll hear..." Q (Magazine) (p.121) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "It's the third in a trilogy of Great American Albums....THE SOPHOMORE SLUMP is ensured a glorious glowing half-life." Mojo (Publisher) (6/00, p.100) - "...Warm and sunny (though unsettlingly so)...like the eels fronted by a young, easily-breakable Neil Young....The use of computers and