Matt and Andrew's CD a Day project

On the Monster tour, Bill Berry suffered an anuerysm on stage, then took several months to recover. So it wasn't really a huge surprise when he quit the band as they were in the stages of recording the follow-up to New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Whatever songs were being worked on got tossed out the window (hopefully they'll show up on a box set or something someday), and the remaining three members, with new producer Pat McCarthy, recorded UP. And it sounds like... a band without a drummer. Joey Waronker from Beck's band came in and played a little, but some songs have just drum machines or no drums at all.
There's some good stuff on here, like "Hope," "Daysleeper," and "Walk Unafraid," but there's also a lot of unfocused mishmash, like "Sad Professor."
The album struck an odd chord with me, though, as it came out about a month into my year abroad studying in Manchester, England. To feel lost and adrift in a foreign country, then hear an album by your favorite band that feels lost and adrift itself is strangely comforting.