Perhaps what's most surprising about the newest release from Gainesville, Florida's Hot Water Music is how cohesive it sounds. The record's 12 tracks fit together seamlessly, with little deviation from the band's ragged, hook-laden sound. Of course, this could be expected when the post-hardcore framework that Hot Water Music operate within is considered; it'd be hard to imagine these guys creating a sound that could be properly deemed unlikely. It would take a savant to work O'Rourke-ian post-rock flourishes into these dense layers of distorted power-chords, buoyant basslines, and propulsive drumbeats.

But the fact that Hot Water Music aren't a pack of geniuses is really beside the point. What makes Never Ender's consistency impressive is the fact that it's a collection of b-sides and never-released versions of tracks culled from their various singles and EPs. It seems the boys haven't changed much since forming in 1994. Not that they're not lazy. They've exhibited prolificacy within their niche, and for better or worse, it's for this exact reason that Never Ender works.

The steady quality of Hot Water Music's material also makes the record a success. Like Braid, they've got the acute ability to lace their songs with catchy hooks while maintaining visceral rawness. Also like Braid, singer/guitarists Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard trade off hideous vocals. Still, they both have a hoarse urgency that compliments their strong pop leanings. Tunes like the album's openers, "Alachua" and "Never Ender," offer fully realized examples of this tension.

Lyrically, though, Hot Water Music tends to be lax. A lot of these songs have vaguely political undertones and express a need to fight and call for "change" (though it seems that the ultimate result is to arrive at the abstract construct that is "truth"). "Tradition," however, is an intentional rally against gender rolls, with the band asserting that society must, "Cut down the lines that falsely divide one body from another/ Fuck the pride/ Respect." It's a risky, poignant tune for a band that revels in the sonic equivalent of testosterone. Still, the lyrics rarely feel fully developed, or even eloquent. Certainly, slick-tongued craftsmen don't spew lines like, "I don't see shit in yesterday/ I just say fuck it to yesterday," as heard on "Hate Mail Comes in August."

Toward the middle of Never Ender, Hot Water Music's uniformity of sound catches up with them, and consequently, the album lags. It's temporarily lifted by "Loft," which features a sweet melody that benefits from genuine restraint by all the players. Only during the chorus does the sound turn raucous and explosive, a la Braid's b-side "Niagara." "Loft" oversteps the surliness that Hot Water Music tends to front. They're sensitive guys, deep down. It's precious.

Never Ender, when bought directly from No Idea or at shows, comes with a bonus disc of demos and outtakes. As you might have expected, the disc is for diehards only. Can it really be any other way? I mean, listening to poorly recorded, almost amateurish sounding versions of old material from any band is an arduous task-- especially when four of those tracks already appear on the other album. When the first disc outstays its welcome toward its conclusion, the second is ultimately rendered obsolete.

Still, Hot Water Music have the chops to make a compilation like Never Ender worthwhile. Even though the package betrays them as adopting a pedestrian "if it ain't broke" philosophy, it's admirable that the band has auspiciously invested itself in making a potentially grating genre utterly listenable. For that reason alone, Hot Water Music come off as much smarter than their sloppy lyrics suggest.

-Richard M. Juzwiak