Oh my miserable life. They send me crates of free music so huge that I had to have a loading bay built onto my apartment. Woe is me. And they expect me to listen to it! Ye gods! The problem with this arrangement is what I've come to think of as the "holdout disc," also known as "the disc that gets me as excited as rocks for Christmas."

Which brings us to Fig Dish. I've tried to be enthused and like it, but after innumerable listens (and I swear I really have listened to this at least 40 times), my only impression is that it's a shade better than mediocre. What is it? Four-piece alt-pop for the 90's. What a pathetic shame. Parts of it remind me of Weezer -- you know, the retro '50s "woo-woo-woo" accompanied by happy, grunge guitars, surf-slack sensibility, xylophone, Weezer. Unfortunately, it's limp. No energy. There's potential here, but the spark must have wound up on the editing floor because it's nowhere to be found. Positively forgettable.

-James P. Wisdom