Songs:
1) Wishing Well
2) Smack My Face
3) Ode to Rugby
4) The Nickel-Plated Baby
5) The Paper Ship
6) The Beaver King
7) A Soul So Strange
8) Always Tomorrow

What You Are to Be You Now Become is whimsical and childlike in its simplicity. The album is mostly acoustic and soft. The songs are slow with sweet vocals, innocent lyrics, and harmonious backup voices. The tunes are uncomplicated, but the well-played mandolin and accordion make it a masterful album.

The song "The Paper Ship" would be perfect background music for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It goes, "We took a trip on a paper ship. We saw the sea and the creatures beneath. We sprung a leak on a coral reef. All hope seemed lost as our boat it was tossed, on the waves, how they crashed 'gainst our paper clip mast."

I can't help but laugh at "The Beaver King" song: "I'll be the first one laughing when the last little beaver goes. I'll take their teeth, take their eggs, take their dams and their beaver legs and I'll be the brand new Beaver King come Sunday." The band's hatred of beavers continues, "...poison and brunch after the evening to you all! I hate their tales, I hate their eyes, their little faces, and their beaver lies!"

Maybe their music is too soft for a bar, but I'd still love to see them and have a frosty beer.

--- Hometown CD Review 12-14-06