In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

There's a sadness in these songs that floats in from behind the music, hiding in the melody, convincing you that you're the one feeling all weepy. Don't be fooled - it's not you, it's them.

Neutral Milk Hotel, and more importantly singer and songwriter Jeff Mangum, have grasped the nostalgic, melancholic powers of melody with an ease that would turn Brian Wilson green. Like Wilson, Mangum sings of his lost childhood, albeit through surreal, foggy memories that recall the confusion as well as the innocence of the preteen years. Magnum's strength as a writer is that he doesn't work to make his words make sense, rather he lets the music make sense of them for you.