Tarwater‘s 1998 release Silur threw me for a most thrilling loop. Its combination of spare, atmospheric electronics, guitar, and understated-to-the-point-of-deadpan vocals-with lyrics culled from Cousteau and other unlikely sources-was pure auditory butter. The needle has traveled a long way since then and Tarwater is now a much more conventional art-pop band. Their sophisticated, slightly off-kilter songs still swing and mesmerize; however, they offer little in the way of revelation.