Bright Eyes leader Conor Oberst was a prolific songwriter back before he could shave, and he kept up that pace while turning into the poet laureate of Heartbreak Nation and a sex symbol for nice girls who dreamt of mothering him. The unfortunately front-loaded Noise Floor is sixteen tracks' worth of compilation cuts, singles, seven-inches and unreleased material: rambling acoustic songs, unwieldy noise experiments and homespun rock, with warbled beauty and choruses that tumble out and curl up on your lap. Several of these match Oberst's best work. "Trees Get Wheeled Away" is a perfect emo-country song with a triumphant, confused chorus that begins, "There's a virgin in my bed." Even Oberst's woodshedding stuff is pretty good: 1999's undercooked, agonized "The Vanishing Act" sounds like it could be beefed up into a gem.

“Youth Knows No Pain”

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”