I hear what some of you are saying. When "I and Love and You" was first released as a single, I was a little worried. For the first song off of their new album, I just didn't think it was all that special. However, it's slowly been growing on me (much like 'Shame' did, which was the first song that eased my country-opposed ear into the extreme talent these guys have). Now these further two songs have been released and after hearing the iTunes preview of "Kick Drum Heart", I was worried. Rick Rubin has watered the boys down, it sounds too clean, where's the *$#@ing banjo?! This was all before downloading the tracks, mind you.

Now that I have, I stand corrected. Hearing the tracks flowing together gives me a much better idea of what they are aiming for with this record and I actually think that this EP is a very savvy selection of three songs to release. You have to remember, people, this is their major label debut. They want to bring in new fans here and these are the perfect songs to ease newcomers into their sound.

I have no doubt that the full album will include plenty of songs with the upbeat newgrass/grungegrass/neo-folk sound we all fell in love with. After all, for every slick and sentimental "Ballad of Love and Hate" or "All My Mistakes", there was a rocking "Will You Return" or "Pretty Girl from San Diego". And lest we all forget the decidedly slick and non-rocking sound of "Second Gleam", which, and I may be alone here, didn't exactly suffer from the punk sound's absence.

These are versatile musicians, guys. They can do it all. Look at Four Thieves Gone. My God, the musical range from "Talk on Indolence" to "Famous Flower of Manhattan" is nuts! This is their major label debut and they have no intention of blowing it, either for the new fans or the old fans. The new album is going to knock our socks off and I'm certain hearing all of the songs in order as the boys intended will assuage any worries the rest of you fairweather fans have about the band "selling out."

Let's try being happy for them. They earned that slick sound and the opportunity to work with someone like RIck Rubin. I can guarantee they don't regret it. That's why they got into this industry, to learn new things, try new things and ultimately to share their artistry with as many people as possible. The change is welcome because it proves that they are maturing as artists. Also, and this is obvious, the old music ain't going anywhere. They've already given that to us and we loved it, sang it, jammed with it and can continue to do so as long as we see fit. Let's all chill out and see what they give us next.

To paraphrase a quote from this site, "If we aren't continuing to grow, what's the point?"