There are plenty of shy people making music, but there aren't many shy people making shy music. Elliott Smith is doing it. So are Low, Luna, and possibly Stereolab, though they often seem more bored than shy. In spite of their suggestively explosive name, Remington Standard encompass the inward elements of the best timid music makers. The result is lonesome warmth.

The key is tempo: it's tough to hold most people's attention at half- speed, let alone get them to pay closer attention. But, like minimalist masters Low, Remington Standard bring it down a few notches, making every note count rather than simply letting noise dictate the mood. The elegant guitar mumblings looped around padded percussion and distant vocals on "On the Cuff" are hardly attention- getters, but you find yourself enveloped by the sound anyway. The rumbling drums of "Almost Motion" is just as enveloping as the male and female vocals wrap around each other. The pinnacle, though, is "Permanent Ink Dries Quick," in which a lazy guitar line fades into a blissful keyboard, then comes back as an anthemic riff-- or at least as anthemic as unassuming pop can get.

Not all of Why Less Desire to Be Neat is intentionally depressed. Comparatively short songs like "Many Comets are Discovered by Amateurs" and "Mnemonics" let the noise and pace double, but it just makes you more aware that the songs have different layers. Baroque is a term that's been beaten into the ground, and Pet Sounds is an album that's referenced even more often. But in this case, both comparisons make sense because they're just comparisons. Unlike other nostalgic chamber pop-heads, Remington Standard make layers from a more traditional five- piece, not an orchestra. It's more shoegazer than pure pop, but more composed than unhinged.

Sometimes it's almost too composed. The opening track, "Good Day Nejma," is as sparse as the rest, but the guitar and tamborine are too predictable. And a track length of six- and- a- half minutes is okay here and there, but not for two- thirds of an album. These are minor complaints, and in the case of length, it can just as easily be said that the length is perfect, because with music this deliberate and warm, you don't want it to end too soon.

-Shan Fowler