I had listened to some older LSF material and it all seemed kind of sketchy to me. It was your basic loud punkish stuff and didn't really stand out from the hordes of other punk bands. But I was willing to give them another chance and I picked up "Inches" on a whim. And it hasn't left my CD player since. This is some amazing stuff, kids. "Inches" is a collection of nine of their singles, all of which they released over the past seven years with the intention of eventually compiling them on this CD. It makes for interesting listening, hearing a band evolve and turn from a so-so punk band to an absolutely incredible art-rock band a la Q and not U or a 10x more kickass Interpol.

The first nine songs (out of eighteen) are probably the best, and are also the newest, since the album is organized in chronological order. Those songs seamlessly blend little things like feedback loops into soaring arena-indie anthems. The lyrics don't dissapoint either, ranging from a comparison of indie rock hipsters to vampires ("Hold on to your genre") to one of the best love songs I have heard in my entire fucking life, ("We'll make a lover of you"). The second nine songs aren't necessarily bad, they're just not anything exceptional. That is, except for the stunning "Reformat (Dramatic Reading)", which is the story of a submarine disaster told in the format of a play.

This is one of the best CDs of the year, and if you get the version with the DVD you can catch some sweet live footage, (their lead singer is huge, balding, has a thick beard and is fucking insane), and some interesting music videos.