Personnel: Dan lead (vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion); Ross Flournoy (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion); Chris Pace, Angela Correa (vocals); Adam Peters (cello, keyboards); Rob McCorkindale (drums, percussion).

Audio Mixer: Chris Fuhrman.

Recording information: Apex Manor (01/2008-05/2008); Little Champion's Basement, Los Angeles, CA (01/2008-05/2008); Melva, Los Angeles, CA (01/2008-05/2008); Porchlight Recording, Los Angeles, CA (01/2008-05/2008); The Dungeon, Los Angeles, CA (01/2008-05/2008); The Hangar, Sacremento, CA (01/2008-05/2008).

Arranger: Thom Monahan.

NOW OR HEAVEN is a far cry from the relentlessly infectious pop of 2004's I CAN'T GO ON, I'LL GO ON. That record earned endless comparisons to contemporaries like The Shins, which may explain the shift to the more nuanced pop songwriting on their second LP. The quartet has moved away from their Teenage Fanclub-adoring days and progressed into something more reminiscent of XTC. But rest assured, catchiness still abounds on selections like "Perfect Games." But this time around, it sounds like the boys popped one too many pills and went from sunshiney smiles to jittery nerves. But the results are still engagingly frantic.