Bows + Arrows

The band produced it except for "The Rat", produced by Dave Sardy. Recording took place at Easley-McCain in Memphis, Marcata in New York, Sweet Tea Recording in Oxford, Mississippi and the Magic Shop in New York between April and October 2003. Bauer recalls most of the record being cut in Memphis with the engineer Stuart Sikes before a hurricane knocked out the power, after which the second half was finished at Sweet Tea; "What's in It for Me" was the only song recorded at Marcata and the last done. Fred Kevorkian mastered it and digitally restored part of the ending of that song, which had been accidentally recorded over. "Little House of Savages" was written at a farmhouse upstate and recorded in Memphis. Leithauser told Stereogum the band never used distortion; the fuzz comes from clean tones pushed to breaking.

Metacritic scores it 78; Pitchfork 9.2, NME 8 out of 10, AllMusic 4 of 5, Rolling Stone 2 of 5. It reached nine on the US Top Alternative Albums chart. "What's in It for Me" and "Little House of Savages" were used on The O.C. Stereogum calls it their only true New York album.