Bottom of the Hudson was once primarily a one-man band, releasing two patchwork demo-sounding albums before pulling together the effortlessly great and unfortunately overlooked EP in 2005. That record was steeped in both the proud melodies and personal intimacy of 1990s indie, treading that balance easily thanks to the clean lo-fi aesthetic of bedroom auteur Eli Simon. In reviewing that EP for Pitchfork, I belabored a comparison between BOTH and Guided by Voices, which wasn't completely fair; it's not like they're the only two bands with equal affinity towards lo-fi recording and the British Invasion. They're both rare in how well they can balance the two, however, and shows that and more. It's an album of simple, irresistible melodies and slow, subtle crescendos and insinuations that earn the band's occasional grand gestures.