"Freight Train": It’s always a good sign when a record begins with the hocking (and ejecting) of a loogie. Frontman Gabe Liebowitz strums a little ditty while the rest of the band sets up, lamenting his black-cloud misery. When he’s finally at his worst, the full band comes together at the chorus, a surprisingly hopeful one for Dastardly, complete with an undeniably catchy harmony. "Fever": A mischievous bass starts off this one. This track showcases Dastardly’s harmonizing abilities. For all of Gabe’s rasps and sobs, his voice works quite well with accordionist Sarah Morgan. Never thought a Chicago band could fit so much yodeling into one track either.
"Brief Thoughts on Death": Gabe runs through a Walt Whitmanesque list of possible ways to die and is back to singing alone on this song. The music borders on the chaotic except for the soul-saving mandolin in the second chorus. Well, almost. A scream, then: nothingness. The song eventually entropies into disarray, the instruments all seemingly played randomly, as if to suggest the confusion and mystery of the afterlife, or at least a musical purgatory.
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