2. Fake Can Be Just As Good (1997)

In 1997, the trio signed to Chicago label Touch & Go and subsequently released their most New York-sounding album, Fake Can Be Just As Good. With Unwound’s Vern Rumsey stepping in on bass duties, the record is a hypnotic feedback storm. From its yelping opener, Amedeo’s love song to Makino “Kazuality,” to swirling swamp “Bipolar” to spitfire “Oh James,” the album rarely ceases to stomp. Even the brittle “Ego Maniac Kid” morphs out of its church-bell origins and crunches into itself. And then there’s original rendition “Futurism vs. Passéism,” a riff-based debate that launches into interstellar post-punk, weaving long bouts of feedback with technical stringwork. This dichotomy surely helped to entice Guy Picciotto to work with the band.