I think it has alot to do with the the then-impending "end" of that era of indie. Notable that most/all of these bands presented more as "punk" bands, a term that largely supplanted the "indie" assignation again for white guitar bands for many years

For real! Also an interesting case of a band who attempted to level up. Could not leverage a signing to a major indie and a handsome front man into being more than an underground mainstay and disappeared almost immediately. Im sure there's a much less harsh spin on that but it felt weird at the time

I think kicking out Chris Hansell post-Leave Home left them in a bind. Writing a whole LP of hooky guitar pop rock is hard for anyone, and Hansell's black metal-y leanings and punk background gave them both a ton of cred and a welcome (and surprisingly harmonious) contrast within their LPs

Immaculada really holds up. I think comparing them to Japandroids and Cloud Nothings is a slight error- The Men were more topically in line with hardcore-adjacent (as in, playing that scene) bands like Milk Music, Merchandise and Destruction Unit. Seems silly to split hairs but IMO, that's history