The ride can be wrenching, but "The FirstDaysOfSpring" is a lot like a flu shot for heartsickness: It injects enough poison to leave listeners feeling immune.
Mixing the slow-burning grace of The National with the open-hearted warmth of Adem, "The FirstDaysofSpring" spends nearly seven minutes seething and building and exploding.
On the pitching side, fourth starter Hughes is likely to miss the firstdaysofspring, meaning David Phelps and Ivan Nova should slide into the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation, postponing their battle over the final rotation spot, for the time being.