Recorded between September 2000 and July 2001, Scared Famous is a characteristically scattered puzzle where every piece has at least the kernel of a hit single buried inside. Perennial fan favorite “Are You Gonna Look After My Boys?” steals the show, but the everywhere the Technicolor cartoon glory’s in full effects, with guitars exploding like fireworks all around. “Howling at the Moon” is white falsetto funk with the Mega Man soundtrack pulsating beneath it. “The Kitchen Club” — about holing up in the kitchen at a house party — flaunts a see-sawing series of keyboard chords that change colors from moment to moment, like a mood ring; one instant they’re hot pink, the next they’re viscera red. Alternating between high and low registers, Rosenberg frames “Politely Declined” as a surrealist pick-up scene dialogue; dutiful guitars face off against synth effects that always make me think of strangled cats. Were “Beefbud” boiled down to two unmitigated minutes of chorus, it would be dunderheaded perfection. On some days, this is Rosenberg’s best album.