If They Knew This Was the End presents, for the first time,
the Mendoza Line's debut album, released in the form they intended, with six bonus tracks (one of them a demo of "Dollars to Donuts," which appears in a more refined form in the main part of the program). Unfortunately, the copious liner notes by Timothy Bracy in the 12-page booklet don't make it clear precisely why it wasn't released in its intended form, what tracks eventually showed up on other Kindercore releases by the band, what tracks didn't, and why the bonus tracks are considered extras. You know, all these little things that make it much easier for hapless reviewers to fit the music into the context of a band's discography. At any rate, what's here is the sound of a band trying to synthesize a lot of alternative/indie guitar rock influences, without coming up with something too distinctive. It's agreeable but unmemorable, with the even-tempered, wistful, guitar-oriented sound that has typified much of what's come out of Athens and late 20th century southern indie rock in general. Sometimes it's rootsy and country-inflected ("I Behaved That Way," "The Aragon and Trianon"), at other times jangle-poppish, often imbued with plenty of fuzz, but never getting too anguished or aggressive. The lyrics might be offbeat and clever; "Small Town Napoleons," admits Bracy in the liner notes, was a blast of hostility against Kindercore. But you can't often tell: The mix does the vocals no favors, sometimes nearly burying them into a haze. ~ Richie Unterberger