you're trying to measure the record based on something that it isn't. you might be less interested in what it is, and that's down to taste, but if you're going to analyze or grade it then you really have to try and engage with it as what it is. the record isn't about hooks or melody, it's about catharsis. the hooks are there, but they're far less important than the dissonance. it's a head cave; if you're going to be thinking of it as pop with a bit of noise, you're going to miss the point - you need to think of it more like early mogwai, or sonic youth, with just a tad of weezer. that makes it a headphone disc...

i liked attack on memory, but it was really heavily centered on "wasted days". beyond that first track, most of the songs haven't held up well. there's nothing to them beyond the hook - they get boring quickly. here, the guitars may only be coming from one person, but they're far thicker - they're built up through multitracking a lot of dissonant harmonies. it creates a bigger, more aggressive and more...cathartic...sound.

i'd call this one a "classic" (roughly a 9) and the last one "hit and miss" which works out to about a six.