Joe Steinhardt (best known as the cofounder of Don Giovanni Records) takes the spotlight under the moniker Modern Hut on Generic Treasure, an alt-folk excursion into free-floating angst. The songs here are acute self-examinations in the vein of early Jonathan Richman and Daniel Johnston, with a hint of "Loser"-era Beck. Backed by sparse acoustic guitar, Steinhardt’s bummed-out, pitch-challenged vocals deliver confessional lyrics distinguished for their literary skill and unfiltered honesty. “I’m not proud of the things that I’ve done in this life/but that’s alright because I will die,” he sings in “Life,” a typical sample of the nervous fatalism found here. Afflictions of the spirit and body flit through tracks like “Mid Tempo,” “Just Pray," and “Gone,” offered with just enough self-aware humor to keep things from sliding into utter blackness. Moving beyond his more personal obsessions, Steinhardt takes a pointed swipe at hipsters and phonies in “History” and reaches out for larger answers in “America.” Marissa Paternoster’s assertive vocals on “Life” and occasional electric guitar embellishment throughout add vigor to these morose, painfully smart, and oddly affecting songs.