Feast of Wire

Recorded at Wavelab by Craig Schumacher and Nick Luca and mixed mostly at the Distillery in Costa Mesa, California. Looking back on its anniversary, Burns remembered how much time and space they had in the studio to try out ideas; sessions usually began with Convertino on drums and Burns on guitar before the others joined. Victor Gastelum, who made the cover art, came up with the title after Harry Crews's novel A Feast of Snakes had been considered. Burns said it carried several meanings: borders that divide the haves from the have-nots, fast technological change, and the wires strung between telegraph poles along American roads. An untitled instrumental is hidden in the pregap before the first track.

Metacritic scored it 86, Mojo and Alternative Press gave it five stars, and it reached 71 in Britain, 10 in Germany and 23 on the US independent chart. The 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of 26 May 2023, remastered by Bo Kondren, added the band's version of Love's Alone Again Or and More Cowboys in Sweden, a live set taped at the China Theatre in Stockholm in April 2003. Victoria Segal of Mojo called it a record in constant human motion.