The Billy Nayer Show - The Way She Dances

The group's third album ushers in changes, the most obvious being the group's reduction to core members McAbee and Lurie, with a bevy of sidemen lending assistance (Marc Ribot among them). Villain is almost a conceptual album, with its various songs such as "The Way She Dances," "The Closer She Gets," and "Sunshine All the Time," reflecting the jaundiced outlook of the "Villian" of the title. There is a spoken-word piece with autoharp accompaniment, "Mr. Satan Butterwolf," which sets the tone of the album. Villain isn't as guitar-heavy as most of the previous Billy Nayer songs; the leading instruments are autoharp and ukulele. One thing that hasn't changed is the warped mix of whimsy and bitterness, which is the main attraction.