Do you think that when Tobin Sprout reaches his 60s, he'll spend his golden years touring on the geriatric circuit? Relegated to the same fate as washed-up nostalgia rockers like Lou Christie and Little Anthony: an audience full of middle-aged former hipsters who shelled out for exorbitantly inflated ticket prices in a vain to recapture their heyday? The very prospect of this fate worse than death makes Mark Sandman's demise seem like a mercy killing.

Eyesinweasel is Tobin Sprout's project du jour. And if this, paired with his last album, Let's Welcome the Circus People is any indication, the slide to footnote status has already begun. The only question that remains is whether or not it will be irrevocable.

Wrinkled Thoughts is rote, bland pop from someone who at least had formerly demonstrated a deeper understanding of pop song structure. What, did Sprout lose his quirky song composition crib sheet? Or rather, maybe he should have hung around Bob Pollard a little longer before striking out on his own.

When listening to this disc, I sought a purpose. I challenged these songs: why should I care about you? The best they could answer with were horrific lines like: "I followed your rainbows/ I studied your stargaze/ You covered my sunshine." Or the insightful lyric contained in "Ketiling Park": "The city... department/ Is proud to believe/ They fixed the holes and filled the human cracks/ By handing out the shirts off others backs." Is Sprout going Republican?

One of the few redeeming moments, both lyrically and musically, comes in the paced and delicate "Slow Flanges." The simple organ chords matched with a twiddling bassline is the perfect complement to slightly stronger existentialist-tech lyrics. Perhaps sensing this, Sprout was sure to include the second best song on the album: "Slow Flanges (Reprise)." There's an entire wonderful EP worth of material here. Too bad it's a full-length.

As a whole, Wrinkled Thoughts is lukewarm. Tepid. And also like three day-old bath water, these songs aren't things in which you want to immerse yourself. The best part of each track is its conclusion. It's all terribly underwhelming.

-John Dark