Damn it, I like Modest Mouse now. Quite a while back, whenever it was I bought this oh a whim, I thought the elliptical, meandering songs and the whiny, barked vocals did it in. "Dramamine" opens with a gentle riff that make me rock back and forth, one that sounds as if it's descending into the song, which lies in wait. Though they do sort of spastically attack later, it turns out the opening riff isn't just an opening, it's a foundation: it becomes almost mantric, anchored by Jeremiah Green's shuffly, punchy drumming. As westernhomes points out, it's as if they have some sort of "compulsive indie rocking disorder". Nevertheless, it works, evoking both the long drives of the album's title and the uncomfortable relationship referred to in the lyrics: "We kiss on the mouth/but still cough down our sleeves."

This originally appeared in NYLPM.