Personnel: Hutch Harris (vocals, guitar); Kathy Foster (vocals, piano, bass instrument, drums).

Recording information: Supernatural Sound, Oregon City, OR.

This Portland, Oregon, power-punk trio's fourth LP continues their Superchunk-like trajectory. The band has moved away from super-sweet hissy fits, and while fans of their early super-charged anthems might be dismayed, chances are they (like the band) could use a break from all the adrenaline. Along with being less sonically strident, NOW WE CAN SEE also tones down the righteous politics of their previous release, THE BODY, THE BLOOD, THE MACHINE. And like that record, the title track is NOW's anchor, summing up their slightly altered musical direction with lazy doo-wop harmonizing and repetitively minor chords. There are still garage rippers, like the outstanding innocence-regained rager "When We Were Alive," but NOW WE CAN SEE hints at a vision of long-term future rather than power-chord burnout.