Missiles has already been heralded as the album that saw The Dears fall apart: by the end of its recording, what used to be a mini-orchestra had been pretty much whittled down to Dears mastermind Murray Lightburn and his co-vocalist, keyboard player and wife Natalia Yanchak. Unsurprisingly, Missiles is not exactly like The Dears’ albums that preceded it, and while it’s not Lightburn’s best work, it’s also not a full-out disaster.

Gone is most of the over-the-top drama of The Dears’ early work, which could be a good thing for anyone annoyed by Lightburn’s penchant for theatrics. The disc starts off with some interesting songs, but while the band’s absence gives Lightburn a chance to get more intimate, it also allows him to go unleashed. The best example of this is “Lights Off,” a decent pop song that is stretched past the seven-minute mark by a mumbly spoken-word segment and a ridiculous guitar solo. There are some flashes of brilliance on Missiles for sure — the problem is you have to listen too hard to find them.