"Fucked up everything/ Took it all for granted/ Watched you slip away/ Sad and disenchanted." So begins another chapter in the turbulent saga of one of the past decade's most shit- upon bands, Dumptruck. Dumptruck have been together in one form or another since 1983, released five albums, none of which have included the same band members. The only constant has been singer/ guitarist Seth Tiven, and his brooding, depressive pop songs. The liner notes of their last album, 1994's criminally overlooked Days of Fear, have this to say: "If it wasn't for bad luck, Dumptruck would have no luck at all... Fucking dumptruck, the ne'er do wells who never seemed to get to their gigs... Fucking Dumptruck, the nicotined depressives who were saved from factory work and shooting sprees by their artistic outlet... Fucking Dumptruck gets sued for five million dollars." Days of Fear was originally slated to be released in 1991, but because of the aformentioned suit and various label- related difficulties, was held in limbo for three years until its 1994 release, by which point the band had long- since broken up.

By all rights, any sane man would have given up by now, but Seth Tiven, indefategable as ever, has come back to deliver another album's worth of some of the most melancholy, depressing and likeable pop music this side of Elliott Smith. Compared to past Dumptruck releases, Terminal is a much harder- edged record, with grungy electric guitars bearing down on Tiven's distressed warble with much more ferocity than usual. And while the title track is quite reminiscent of ex- bandmate Kevin Salem's solo work, songs like "Tear it Down" sink under the weight of their fuzzed- out guitars and distracting Moog squiggles.

But Tiven hits the mark more often than not, and songs like "Long Ride" and "Swept Away" recall the breezy melancholy of the band's third (and best) album, "For the Country." The rest of the album, while not necessarily equalling the band's former glories, certainly sounds pretty good. My only complaint is that the relentless melancholia can become, well, oppressive, in a Joy Division kind of way. However, if you're in one of those moods where the last thing in the world you want to be is cheered up, Terminal will fit the bill nicely, leaving you\ wishing for a nice big thunderstorm.

-Jeremy Schneyer