I guess you had to be a teenager in the 90s to really like Lou Barlow. Which I was. Which is why I do. 

Agreed. That was part of the point I was trying to make, albeit a long-winded one! I read some of your posts-quite funny stuff.

THIS is a classic RPesque tune..
but yeah, the artwork looks like the house is taking a really violent shit. or maybe straddling a really big, brown penis.

It's a pleasant enough song but I'm having such a hard time getting past that god-awful album cover ...

You're right, there is no need, no one cares anyway, about your or anyone else's credentials.  Tell me what you love, that's all I am interested in.  Do you have two ears and a brain?  That's enough.

I also have a background in music but do not feel the same need to list my credentials. 

It's a pleasant enough song but I'm having such a hard time getting past that god-awful album cover ...

Yeah I'm serious. Whether he noticed or not matters less than the fact that he didn't care.
Style, my butt. It's just crappy, careless musicianship.

Guitar work sounds like Neil Young on speed playing The Old Laughing Lady.

It's a pleasant enough song but I'm having such a hard time getting past that god-awful album cover ...

Oh look, it's the out-of-tune puking house song again. 

I don't understand what you're getting all personal about. You like his music? good for you! I don't, and to be more specific I resent it when musicians are sloppy about details like pitch and tuning. What can I say other than it bugs me?
This is an open forum, meaning I don't have to have a publicist and a fan base to have an opinion about music. I have been a fairly serious amateur(pianist, classical & jazz guitar, vocalist) for over 40 years, and have been tuning pianos professionally for more than 25 years. I know when someone is singing or playing out of tune. If you don't mind inharmonicity, or can't detect it like most people, consider yourself either fortunate or indiscriminate, but don't bother getting your chones in wad about someone else's opinion. Life's too short.
Ok? Thought so.

Sorry, but "chones" is some kind of slang (anyone know?) for underwear, which does tend to wad under imbalanced tension, not testicles like the spanish "cojones". I may have been mistaken, but the object of my comment more likely had the former, and none of the latter.

If you are going to mix your metaphors properly, it is cojones. And they tend not to wad as much as shrivel.

. . .but don't bother getting your chones in wad about someone else's opinion.

... inharmonicity, ...

Since you're an expert, how long have you had your recording contract? Is your fan base as numerous and loyal as Lou's? Has your music career been as long and varied (sebadoh, folk implosion, solo) as his? Thought not.

Yeah I'm serious. Whether he noticed or not matters less than the fact that he didn't care.
Style, my butt. It's just crappy, careless musicianship.

Are you serious? That is Lou's style. Did you think he played it back after recording it and just didn't notice?

the guy sings flat a lot, and the guitar needs tuning.

Stuff like that really bugs me. If they're going to make a record and expect people to pay money for then they're supposed to be pros.

Maybe it's just a dirt driveway leading up to the home, and that's a dust cloud kicked up by someone leaving in a hurry, hence the surprised look of the house and the word home as seen in a review mirror. Ever think of that?