Released in 2002, & Yet & Yet may be Do Make Say Think's most consistent -- if uninspired -- work to date.
The band's thick wire-frame mesh of Dave Mitchell's sub-pattern drumming and the remaining members' perched Labradford-like arrangements admirably survived the growing dismissal of post-rock and non-electronic experimentation.
A sad, engagingly muddled keyboard, for example, bubbles to the surface of scraped bass and guitar in "Chinatown," while "End of Music" returns to a rumbling anxiety that recalls the sophistication of a pre-grunge era.
Owing itself to past accomplishments proved to be its only failing.
Much of this music was dry, over-determined.
Long sequences were built on a series of predictable elements of suspense.
With & Yet & Yet, Do Make Say Think seemed to be refining its sound, but intellectually so, leaving many of the band's interesting flaws behind.