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Pedro The Lion's 2004 release Achilles Heel is not only the band's final album to date but also the finest of their career. After the huge crossover success of 2002's Control, it was only a matter of time before David Bazan and company would fully realize their potential swan song. Beautifully achieved, Achilles Heel is crafted as a scathing glance into the crosshairs of the American dream, a heartbreaking sketch of husbandhood and ultimately an exploration of faith as told through eleven perfectly textured vignettes. Lyrically, dry wit and melancholy are marbled together, creating relaxed narratives with subtle and often profound depth.
"Transcontinental" describes a man having a moment of clarity, as his newly amputated legs twitch before him, "Arizona" finds a drunken, devastated New Mexico throwing fists at California for the love of the land mass between them, and "The Fleecing" attempts to explain to strangers some things that strangers aren't equipped to understand. Musically Achilles Heel is both stark and lush, economical arrangements of simple, beautiful compositions, which came together at organic recording sessions in the band's home studio in Washington state. The epic, dreamy, kaleidoscopic churn of opener "Bands with Managers," is followed by the unshakably perfect pop song "Foregone Conclusions." The band's conviction is also clear in its willingness to take chances, as shown by the tipsy groove and offbeat harmonies of "Keep Swinging," and album closer "The Poison."
In early 2006, Bazan retired the Pedro The Lion moniker to continue on with solo work under his own name. In December of 2017 he announced that Pedro The Lion will reunite after eleven years for a new album and a worldwide tour. Achilles Heel has been remastered and is available on vinyl for the first time in years.