The title of this first volume of a projected four-volume set is slightly more on the nose than its creators probably intended: though the 20-song, 38-minute album itself has its rough-edged charm, the inclusion of alternate mixes and demos in MP3 format, not to mention a snooze-worthy nearly 20-minute video documentary, is sheer overkill. The low-key merits of
How to Get Lost In a Time Consuming Ego Trip, Part 1 of 4 don't stand up to that kind of scrutiny, but listened to more casually, it's a more appealing work. Songs like "Driving the Sun," "Tangled Up," and "It's Okay" have a pleasantly lo-fi sound, and catchy tunes that pitch the Atlanta-based group somewhere between
Guided by Voices and the
Olivia Tremor Control. Unfortunately, the album's batting average for memorable choruses is under .500, and the simple guitar-based arrangements are so plain that they make the songs sound much more alike than they really are. Three more albums' worth of this doesn't sound like much of a treat. ~ Stewart Mason