Beginning with their quirky name, Illinois-based touring machines Troubled Hubble are a nerdy blast from the too-recent-to-be-trendy past. Their style neatly summarizes the musical epoch before Travis Morrison lost his mojo-- back when Built to Spill were newly perfect, Isaac Mouse had nothing to think about, and "soccer moms" drove "minivans" instead of leather-upholstered tanks (eff you, H2!). Like a "Happy Days" for the geek-rock '90s, Troubled Hubble's 2002 word-of-mouth breakthrough, Penturbia, was all that, but jollier, idealized.
Troubled Hubble's Lookout! debut, Making Beds in a Burning House, is actually their fourth full-length. In many ways, it's an evolution from its predecessors: cleaner recording quality, a few strings 'n' horns, and self-consciously literate lyrics (holy Hapsburg Empire, "defenestrate"?). Indeed, singer/guitarist Chris Otepka hurls his words in a Mountain Goats-like torrent, reedy voice and all. "That candle in the window is gonna be the reason your whole house burns," Otepka warns before jumping breathlessly to another image and then another over Andrew Lanthrum's lithe, impossibly Dismembered bass line on superficially upbeat opener "14000 Things to Be Happy About". Then again, the rush of staccato verbiage on "Ear Nose & Throat" brushes awkwardly close to R.E.M./Billy Joel list-song terrain (what else do I have to say?!).
A few standouts seem likely to bump up against the latest Clem Snide on your local college radio station. "To Be Alive and Alone" is a catchy, chiming affirmation of your between-classes quarter-life crisis ("It's nice to see you back in the game," Otepka begins, hoping to "play"-- get it?). Going on a road trip? Throw meticulously straight-faced "Floribraska" onto your spring break mix disc. "There's no place like the Midwest except the Southeast," quoth Otepka. The album's most memorable new song, "Even Marathon Runners Need to Nap" is a gradually expanding mid-tempo indie-rocker worthy of a Grand Canyon wake and bake, or at least the library psychedelia of its forebears.
For all the strides Troubled Hubble have made (the dread "maturation"!), in some ways Making Beds in a Burning House is unsatisfyingly retrograde, even beyond its derivativeness. For starters, nothing here rivals college radio fave "I Love My Canoe", which has appeared on two previous albums. And the song you'll leave humming? Bonus track "Nancy", essentially a guitar-based take on self-titled-era Ben Folds Five wimp-pop-- originally from Penturbia. Still, it's hard to complain while listening to the closing lines, which offer a glimpse into Troubled Hubble's charming worldview, or at least a decent AIM profile: "What inspires you/ Should entire you/ Live how you want to be loved."
