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Upon first listen, Number Seven Uptown doesn\'t sound surprising or different. But each successive listen reveals a deeper, darker secret shrouded in irony and catchy, simple guitar work.\nSwearing At Motorists, only a two-piece band, has a surprisingly full sound. On certain tracks it enlists the help of a guest vocalist, organ, trumpet or even mandolin. A dark, desperate mood fills the album but doesn\'t saturate it. The lyrics plead through vocalist and guitarist Dave Doughman's voice. Don Thrasher's drums perfectly accentuate the feel of Number Seven Uptown.\nMusically, Uptown shifts from short, almost poppy songs to slower, more ethereal numbers. Each track is short enough to leave us wanting more but not unsatisfied. It\'s folky, it\'s rocky, at times it sounds fun, even though the pervasive theme is deep heartache and regret.\n The opening track, "Flying Pizza," starts upbeat. Doughman sings about a girl he sees downtown, wanting to know how her life has been going but at the same time praying she doesn't see him. Another version of the song is included in the CD, presenting the other face of it in a minor key.\n "Three Wishes" is just that, a short song about screwing up and having three simple wishes afterward: I wish I could take away the pain that I\'ve given you/I wish that I could make you believe that my love is true/ And I wish I could write a song as beautiful as you. Lyrically, the album carries the theme of deep heartache, making listeners wonder when Doughman is going to snap.\n Quirky, brief pieces pop up periodically. "Prelude to Miss," a 30-second instrumental, features a struggling cello in the background behind Doughman's plucky guitar. These add to the array of emotions running through the album, going from somber lows to angry frustration. This makes the album beautiful and schizophrenic, alarmingly easy to identify with.\n The Motorists' third full-length, and second on Bloomington's Secretly Canadian Records, has an eerie effectiveness unique to its sound. Warning: Listening to Uptown after someone has torn your heart out of your chest and thrown it on the floor might push you over the edge.