Most of the songs on "Television City Dream" are one minute or so long, and have the basic theme that all the nasty things punk rockers do have some kind of irony in them. Like sharing needles... I can't tell if the song "dirty needles" is a joke or not, but maybe I'm not supposed to get it because the band is trying to alienate me now.
There are a couple of songs that stick out, like "Burn it Down" and "Speed of Mutation", because they have individual themes and the lyrics read kind of like visual prose or poetry. And you don't hear cool gritty punk music with philosophical shit in there very often. Well, a lot of punk bands TRY to get philosophical, but I guess it takes a band that's been around a while (like Screeching Weasel...!) to keep it from sounding like ass. And then there is the song dedicated to tennis pro Martina Hingis, which is really funny just because they actually put it on the album.
So I guess Screeching Weasel is trying to break the punk rock formula and try that serious-apocalyptic-gritty thing that all the kids have been trying. It is definately better and more interesting than any other "serious punk" I've heard recently, but I don't really know if it suits Screeching Weasel. They were just so good at writing goofy shit, maybe sticking to their formula would have kept me better entertained. Of course, not everyone is like me, but that's their problem.