Here's an interesting one. First run through - not much happening. Sounds okay, bit of a sloppy racket, but that's the idea, right? No classic standout tracks but those will be here later down the line. This is just them finding their feet.

Second run through, and to my astonishment, a lot of these have really stuck, in a way that, say, Unknown Pleasures really did not. Sure, it's rough round the edges, but there is something here, something really listenable, something tuneful. Maybe it was the Teenage Fanclub gig at the weekend, but this is definitely working for me. The echo effect on Willpower sounds surprisingly modern, where the instinct might have made it sound gothy or too Birthday Party.

Arguably the two most interesting tracks come in the middle - the instrumental, Buck Hill, which somehow manages to be interesting even though instrumentals are traditionally not my bag, and then of course Lovelines, lifted from the small ads of the Minneapolis paper. It shouldn't work but it does, etc. Definite shades of Pavement on this one.

You Lose is back to much more straightforward Husker Lemonhead territory, but works in the context of the other weird and wonderful bits going on. Short too. And finally we're on to Treatment Bound, another departure, but certainly not a bad one. It's a definite step forward for the band, I think. Leading towards the one I guess is the best-loved - but Hootenanny is certainly worth 40 minutes of anyone's time.