Cymbals Eat Guitars - LOSE
Critic Score
Based on 21 reviews
2014 Ratings: #170 / 1042
User Score
Based on 116 ratings
2014 Rank: #149
Liked by 1 person
August 26, 2014 / Release Date
LP / Format
Barsuk / Label
Indie Rock / Genre
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
Tiny Mix Tapes

LOSE is lyric poetry struggling with representing loss; it’s the music of seeing your youth drain out of you, of trying to reconcile the differences between you now and you then, between death and life and the twirling, familiar grey area of dreams.

90
Exclaim!

At times short and bombastic, at others melodic and sprawling, LOSE has something for everyone yet still retains most of what made Cymbals Eat Guitars great on their last two releases.

85
The Line of Best Fit

It’s an impeccably beaten, teary-eyed but smiling document to a frighteningly exhilarating time of one’s life and beacon to march onward

83
Consequence of Sound

Channeling profound loss, once-buried emotions, and a stronger sense of songwriting, these Staten Islanders have created something cathartic, life-affirming, and important.

83
Pretty Much Amazing

The band may love the sounds of Built to Spill and Superchunk a little too much, but they’re also far too adventurous to settle for apery, least of all on LOSE. It’s their best work yet.

82
Pitchfork

The music is once again outdone by D’Agostino’s lyrics, deeply personal and relatable, referential without being academic, prone to poetic flight and realistic grounding. 

80
DIY

At their core, Cymbals Eat Guitars is still the same band as before - just bigger and bolder, more sharpened and focused. And they’re better for it. 

80
PopMatters

For its themes of loss and longing, its wide-eyed sense of wistfulness, for all of its hopefulness in misfortune, Lose ends up being a win. And a major one at that.

70
AllMusic

Lose becomes a rewarding listen in no small part because of these stylistic diversions and the way the different parts fit together into an interesting, forward-moving whole.

70
Under the Radar

As Cymbals Eat Guitars further shape the band's sound, the quartet manages to strike a balance between radio-friendly material and experimental urges with LOSE

70
NME

While the album may not fully scale D'Agostino's high bar, in attempting to make that leap Cymbals Eat Guitars have made their best album to date as well as a touching goodbye to a friend.

60
Rolling Stone

This arty New York band's previous album, 2011's Lenses Alien, was delirious indie-rock bedlam. The four-piece crew's follow-up, reportedly written in response to the death of a friend, is just as anarchic.

GiorgioMotorola
95

This album deserved so much more praise.

MagnetoJenkins
70

Cymbals Eat Guitars go for their own 'Perfect from Now On' and honestly do it some justice. I guess a 70 isn't the highest score in the world, but a task like this would be easy to mess up.

dylanoliver
100

This is my favorite album of all time. There is not a moment of this album that I don’t find incredibly introspective, thought provoking, or just musically incredible.

Jackson is an incredibly fitting opening track. The guitar melody intro sets the stage to a soaring minute of guitar and choir-like instrumentation, which then leads into the beautiful recounting of Joseph D’Agostino’s lost friend. The track ends in the same soaring fashion in which it started, perfectly ... read more

MagnetoJenkins
70

Cymbals Eat Guitars go for their own 'Perfect from Now On' and honestly do it some justice. I guess a 70 isn't the highest score in the world, but a task like this would be easy to mess up.

dylanoliver
100

This is my favorite album of all time. There is not a moment of this album that I don’t find incredibly introspective, thought provoking, or just musically incredible.

Jackson is an incredibly fitting opening track. The guitar melody intro sets the stage to a soaring minute of guitar and choir-like instrumentation, which then leads into the beautiful recounting of Joseph D’Agostino’s lost friend. The track ends in the same soaring fashion in which it started, perfectly ... read more

GiorgioMotorola
95

This album deserved so much more praise.

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Track List

1Jackson
6:14
100
2Warning
3:20
95
3XR
2:34
85
4Place Names
6:15
100
5Child Bride
3:25
95
6Laramie
8:07
100
7Chambers
3:48
100
8Lifenet
3:23
95
92 Hip Soul
6:19
100
Total Length: 43 minutes
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Added on: May 19, 2014