NakedSelf (2000)

The The — the band with a stuttering article for a name — returns with NakedSelf, with 20 active years of mutant style under its belt. Matt Johnson's music is guitar noisy, with a few techno touches, mostly lyrically smart, and suitable for this ambiguous post-alt-rock era. History and identity get fuzzy, as when the ''Hey Bulldog'' riff is winkingly quoted in ''SaltWater,'' but there's something appealingly now-and-then about the whole affair. B-