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well I've had about 3 total listens and i can understand the criticism of 'it's too much like what they've done before' because it all is stuff they've done before. I don't think it's a bad thing because it feels like they just wanted to relax and make a album in their comfort zone and a retrospective of the past 28 years.
Some songs (Antenna, calming the snake, gas station spring to mind) proboly are too derivative of older work the rest are better done 'throwbacks'. Personally i like the 'throwback' feeling it's comfortable but yet new... i don't have to throw on DDN or GOO for the 1 millionth time to get that same feeling out of SY. Also note i think a band is always free to rip themselves off any time the want to.
Again fans that always want 'newness' out of the band are going to be disapointed. personally i think they've been around long enough to just go and make a great album without the pressure of 'reinvention'.
And i think this is their best album since DDN... hands down.
Also i think this album was made with live shows in mind. Anyone that's been to a SY concert recently knows how much more energy the band and the fans seem to have for their older songs than their newer ones. I think they picked up on this and decided to bring that old energy back into new work.
that being said i am assuming their next album will sound completely different and i will be disappointed if it's 'more of the same'. There is such a thing as staying comfortable for too long.
One last thing none of the songs have caused a really violent negative reaction in me... something i can't say has been true since Goo (in fact the majority of jet set and leaves ended up in the strongly hate pile from day one... I actually resold ATL the day after i got it because i hated it so much and still only like Sunday and Hoarfrost from it)
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