The Crucial Collection

Prior to the release of 2007's full-length debut This Is Animal Music, Tallahassee indie rockers Look Mexico released a pair of EPs, 2005's So Byzantine and 2006's Crucial, which are gathered here alongside a number of alternative versions and remixes of songs from the album, as well as a pair of otherwise hard to find tracks. As the number of songs that appear on both the EPs and the debut full-length attest, there was no major change in musical direction between the EPs and the album: This Is Animal Music is basically a better-sounding and slightly more polished version of the EPs' blend of Minus the Bear-style whimsy, post-rocky technical facility, and emo-tinged indie rock earnestness. Similarly, the three alternate versions of album tracks at the collection's end -- Done and Done, You Ever Get Punched in the Face for Talking Too Much?, and You Come into My House, While I Sleep? -- are not radical revisions so much as they're minor tweaks. Oddly, despite its relatively brief running time and claims of definitiveness, The Crucial Collection is not entirely complete: two of the six tracks from So Byzantine, Comin' in Hot with a Side of Bacon and a brief early version of the album's I Had a Wrench, and I Hit Him, are missing. Crucial? Only for the diehard, particularly since both EPs are available through various online services in their original form. But it's a handy one-stop discography builder for the minor fan. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide