Released as a teaser for their 1998 major-label debut, Freak*on*Ica, Park Avenue serves as an early indication of the techno-fueled direction the nearly decade-old outfit was planning to explore. While Girls Against Boys had always tempered their distinctive brand of smoky, double-bass-attack noise rock with waves of keyboards and beats, Freak*on*Ica found the boys often giving the guitars a backseat position compared to Eli Janney's driving loops and samples. This change in sound, paired with the break from indie stalwart Touch & Go to hook up with Geffen, could have isolated a lot of fans had it not been so well done. The apocalyptic dance beats and Scott McCloud's coolly disinterested vocals (Lou Reed wishes he could be this icy) make this album more suited to shady backrooms and warehouses than neon clublands, and that's the way it should be. Following the release of Freak*on*Ica, Girls Against Boys were promptly dumped by Geffen, and 2002 found the boys returning to a homey indie label (this time, Jade Tree) and to a more guitar-driven dirty rock sound with You Can't Fight What You Can't See.