The Eternal

It came after the Geffen contract ended, and the band signed with Matador in 2008. Mark Ibold, whom Gordon had suggested for live shows after playing with him in Free Kitten, was now part of the recording. The band rehearsed in the basement of Moore and Gordon's house during the week and recorded at weekends. Shelley said it felt like making a single every weekend. Moore saw a relationship between parts of the album and Dirty, and Ranaldo said the energy of Daydream Nation had helped.

It reached number 18 on the Billboard 200, the band's highest US placing, and won an IMPALA silver certification in 2009 for 30,000 copies across Europe. The cover is a painting by John Fahey and the album is dedicated to Ron Asheton of the Stooges. Pitchfork's Marc Masters placed it on a middle rung of the band's catalog while praising Antenna, Walkin Blue and What We Know. The New York Times' Ben Ratliff singled out Massage the History, which Gordon sings, as the sleeper stunner. Metacritic scored it 79.