The first Slug album, Ripe, was co-produced and helped along by Field Music's brothers Brewis, which wasn't surprising considering Slug's Ian Black was once that band's bass player. The record didn't fall too far from the art-rock-with-hooks tree, but was colored by a weirder, more playful streak that Black brought to the mix. When it came time to record a second album, Black decided to go it alone. 2018's HiggledyPiggledy doesn't suffer any from the lack of Brewis brothers -- Black has more than enough skill and imagination to make Slug sound great all by himself. While still orbiting around the same angular, witty, and sometimes goofy sound as the debut, this time Black seems a little more willing to experiment and stray from delivering big hooks in favor of sneaky, off-kilter songcraft that relies as much on the sounds he creates as it does the words or melodies. Many of the tracks were built up from the drums and bass, and they both sound powerful and occasionally thunderous. Tracks like "Basic Aggression" and "Humming and Hawing" really have the feel of two musicians battling it out in an overheated studio, not of one guy doing overdubs. This live-sounding, athletic undercurrent gives Black a solid foundation to build quirky, oddball arrangements on top, adding flutes, synths, prog rock guitar lines, Steely Dan smooth vocal harmonies, and his own strong vocals like a not-so-mad scientist. Along with a batch of thoughtful, musically complex numbers that are sure to please both fans of Field Music and the kind of prog that is devoid of any metal influence, Black sneaks in a few pure pop songs that Andy Partridge, or going back further, Todd Rundgren, would have been glad to call their own. "Lackadaisical Love" is a thumping love-ish song with a big fat chorus pasted over loping drum beats, steel drums, and a rippling guitar solo; "Dolly Dimple" is another jerky delight with cute wordplay, nice vocal interplay, and a fun new wave feel, and "Petulia" is basically the best song XTC never got around to writing. Black balances his pop leanings and prog inclinations well throughout the record, never tipping too far in one direction or the other, and always making music that is pleasing to both the part of the brain that wants to think and the part that wants to feel. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi

1		No Heavy Petting
2		Earlobe
3		Gibberish
4		Basic Aggression
5		Lackadaisical Love
6		Dolly Dimple
7		Tongue
8		You Don't Need to Wake Up
9		Humming and Hawing
10		Petulia
11		A Soft Shoe Number
12		Arbitrary Lessons in Custom
13		You Are as Cold as a Dead Fish