After taking nearly a decade off following the release of "Here's to Shutting Up", Mac, Laura, Jon, and Jim decided to shout it out again in 2010 with "Majesty Shredding", an album perfectly described by its own title.

It's a celebratory set of whoa-whoa-whoas from a group so thrilled by making music together again that they can't contain themselves.

The band's forthcoming release, "I Hate Music", is "Majesty Shredding" 's dark twin. It's similarly aggressive-often moreso (see "Staying Home")-and every bit as energetic.

It reflects the joys of a life spent immersed in music ("Me & You & Jackie Mittoo," "Trees of Barcelona"), but there's a dark undercurrent as well.

That title isn't tongue-in-cheek, but it's really more a question than a statement: When you're 20, lazy co-workers and romantic missteps number among your biggest worries; two decades later, life's bigger questions knock louder and louder, demanding answers.

"I Hate Music" is an album about love more than anything else: love of life, love of living, love of people, and yeah, love of music.

It defies its own title so completely and diligently that it never even seems like a fair fight: There's no pain this deep or yearning this severe without the type of love earned over a lifetime.

"I hate music - what is it worth? / Can't bring anyone back to this earth" goes the first line in "Me & You & Jackie Mittoo." That song and its ten companions can't relive the past or resurrect those lost, but they can keep them close enough to see and hear and celebrate.

It's dark in here, but if we conjure the right words and sounds, maybe we'll find our way out.