Now I've heard everything.

Listen here.
Purchase here.

Part of me thinks this has to be a joke -- and possibly an elaborate hoax targeted directly at me, a longtime-if-somewhat-embarrassed-about-it fan -- but my friend Michele's brother Brian says it's both legit and actually not bad. I guess the spirit of emo lives in Counting Crows.

On the other hand (true story), the very same Michele was at a Guided by Voices concert last night, at which the lead singer said, more or less apropos of nothing, "If anyone in here has bought a Counting Crows album, the person who came with them should punch them in the face." An long, violently anti-Duritz rant kind of snowballed from there.

No word yet if Ben actually punched her in the face.