The Jesus Lizard emerged fully formed on their 1990 debut, Head, and honed their sound to a menacing, unhinged perfection on follow-ups Goat and Liar, so it was probably a smart call for them to broaden their sonic palette for album number four. Down has a mixed reputation — especially among the band members themselves, who have repeatedly rated it as a subpar entry in their catalog, citing underbaked material and unsatisfactory recording job by Steve Albini — but it can be hard to see why, as the album contains some of the group’s most nuanced and rewarding material. While early Lizard focused on bluntness and bludgeon, here they stretched out into noirish swing (“The Associate”), wild-eyed boogie rock (“Destroy Before Reading”) and even their version of poignant power-balladry (“Elegy”). And the harder-hitting pieces, such as the convulsive “Mistletoe,” the skulking, flailing “American BB” and the trudging, Zeppelin-y “Horse” showed that the scuzzy core of their aesthetic remained fully intact.