Neutral Milk Hotel: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea Cassette

When you were young... If the opening guitar strums of "The King Of Carrot Flowers, Pt. One" are not immediately familiar to you, you've been missing out. The lush lo-fi proceedings of In The Aeroplane Over The Sea are leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor, On Avery Island. The songwriting seems to have grown beyond the confines of NMH's Elephant 6 contemporaries. There are timeless and transcendental moments throughout the record that draw on the entire history of American rock and roll. It's a pastiche of psyche rock and punk, folk songs and Americana, committed to fuzzy tape, warts and all. Checkout "King Of Carrot Flowers Part 1," "Two-Headed Boy," "Holland, 1945" and "Communist Daughter" and you should be sold. A definite must for any fan of indie rock.

• cassette version
• random turquoise, green or yellow tape shell (please note: cassette color is not guaranteed and may differ from mock-up photo)
• original release year: 1998
• music label: Merge Records 2025

reviewed by Hank Ohs 11/2014