30 Year Low
by The Mendoza Line

Album details

US: 21 August 2007 on Glurp
UK: IMPORT ONLY

The eight-song ‘30-Year Low’ EP is paired with an album of rarities and covers, ‘The Final Remarks of the Legendary Malcontent,’ which includes the band’s takes on songs by Arab Strap, Cole Porter, Bruce Springsteen and more. It will be the final release for the veteran band, who–like principal members Timothy Bracy and Shannon McArdle–have officially split up.

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The critical consensus

Many of the critics weren’t quite sure what to make of the somewhat odd pairing of a short album with a collection of B-sides and the like–not to mention the fact that listening to the album is somewhat akin to eavesdropping on a marriage falling apart. But according to Dusted, "Painful as 30 Year Low must have been to make, the record is well worth the trouble," although Final Remarks comes across as mere "filler." Artist Direct calls that covers disc "a simpler pleasure than 30 Year Low," with the combined effort a reward for fans but "a strange introduction for new listeners." Treble states "it’s the 30 Year Low disc that is the real treat," and PopMatters feels that the second disc is for fans only, with the main disc not their best effort, but nevertheless "compelling."

Pitchfork calls 30 Year Low "some of their best work in years," while Stylus loves the album’s "unforgettable intensity." Aversion says that the Mendoza Line "bows out with character," although the publication does take sides, declaring, "McArdle’s tracks usually outshine Bracy’s, both in lyrical sophistication and in delivery." (Dusted, too, chooses McArdle.) And although Tiny Mix Tapes feels that nothing on 30 Year Low matches the stellar opening song, there are a few other "great moments" over the course of the remaining tracks.

Like the best divorce albums, it offers sadness, pathos, and the electric thrill of great music forged in the crucible of pain.

- Andy Whitman, All Music Guide

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. Since I Came
   
2. Aspect Of an Old Maid
3. 31 Candles
4. I Lost My Taste
5. Love On Parole
6. Stepping On My Heels
7. Thirty Year Low
   
8. Tell It To the Raven

Also on the web

• Official Artist Site