Early indie rock was glamorous in the early 2010s but it hasn’t aged well. A hard to find album meant more kudos back then. Raw production values were a symbol of honesty. With the clarity of 2026 we can now see that those albums were hard to find for a reason. They didn’t sell well because they weren’t great. And sometimes were bad.

‘Raw’ was just a euphemism for discordant.

The live album really doesn’t do Bright Eyes any favours. His vocals are too forceful and clang without melody against his country guitar riffs.