The late-90s college rock scene that produced DCFC must now seem very far away. The tuneful introspection and vague artiness of their early records were custom-made for campus heartbreak, but after a 2005 appearance on The OC they graduated to platinum record sales, Grammy nominations and celebrity wives. The notionally conflicting demands of wistfulness and stadium-pleasing anthemics have proved no great problem since. Less guitar-based than its predecessors, this seventh record delivers sweeping electronics and piano and frontman Ben Gibbard's gift for hooky, bittersweet melodies is undiminished. But the overall effect is unconvincing, like something spindly pumped on steroids.