Phosphorescent - Muchacho
Critic Score
Based on 23 reviews
2013 Ratings: #151 / 1115
Year End Rank: #34
User Score
Based on 266 ratings
2013 Rank: #77
Liked by 7 people
March 19, 2013 / Release Date
LP / Format
Dead Oceans / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

93
Paste

Muchacho recapitulates that moment of love’s collapse and catapults out into the companionable lonesome that waits. 

91
A.V. Club

Muchacho is also Houck’s most accomplished release to date—his most heartrending and life-affirming, equal parts lost-love devastation and hip-swaying, horn-led exultation.

88
Pitchfork

On Muchacho, Houck gathers together everything he's attempted-- beery, rollicking country-rock, haunted tribal hymnals, regret-soaked bar room heartbreak-- and fashions it into something close to a defining statement.

84
Beats Per Minute

It’s rare to find a lyricist so honest and a vocalist so earnest, and when put into song it seems to Houck as if every word is vital and cathartic and necessary. 

80
musicOMH

When the uplifting tones of the closing Sun’s Arising roll around, it’s impossible not to believe that Matthew Houck has created his finest work yet.

80
Q Magazine
While the more traditional sounding songs that remain are unquestionably excellent, it does seem odd to leave such a good idea only half explored.
80
Spectrum Culture

Muchacho combines the best elements of his previous albums—a dash of country twang here, a sprinkle of naturalistic imagery there—and concocts a brew that’s less beer and tears than it is pensive earnestness.

80
The Independent

Phosphorescent's Matthew Houck augments his usual reedy Americana stylings with some unexpected developments on Muchacho.

80
Mojo
A hell of a production.
80
Uncut

Phosphorescent has followed 2010's country-rock homage Here's To Taking It Easy with an equally magnificent beast, mixing country jams with claustrophobic electronica and mournful Mariachi horns to create a beautiful but discomforting album.

80
Clash
A beautiful outing in hauntingly pastoral heartbreak. Impressive.
80
American Songwriter
He can do a tender, dreamy pop song, or he can plug in and just get straight to rocking. And anything in between is fair game.
80
The Line of Best Fit
This atmospheric, rewarding gem that, despite its decidedly downbeat subject material, hops effortlessly over various woe-is-me traps is certainly worth the trouble its author’s had to go through to produce it.
80
The 405

This stark honesty is much of the appeal of Muchacho, a record that finds that some things might be past fixing, but always comfortable in the knowledge that there's another sunrise on the way. 

80
Under the Radar

No matter what happens to Phosphorescent from here on out, Muchacho is an artist setting a new standard.

80
Consequence of Sound

Muchacho is a well balanced listen, one that finds Houck adding new hues to old canvases and striking gold at every turn.

80
AllMusic

What is clear, even through the sometimes heavier-than-necessary arrangements, is that Muchacho has some of Houck's best songwriting since his early days, seemingly tapped into the grainy pain, hard-living tendencies, and wandering muse of his subconscious, with the most listenable results Phosphorescent has produced in years.

70
DIY

'Muchacho' is a strikingly personal album, the sound of a man recollecting and realising what he’s lost and how he can find it again.

70
No Ripcord

There probably aren’t enough moments that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, but after the initial struggle to get into, it’s a rewarding record to return to.

60
The Skinny
Experimental and ambitious, the album's highlights are sublime, even if the rest feels somewhat lost in the desert.
60
Exclaim!
A raucous centrepiece it is not. A soundtrack for a nightcap alone though? Absolutely.
60
The Needle Drop
On its latest full-length effort, Phosphorescent's Americana tunes are sounding more mellow than ever due to some incredibly smooth, reverbed production.
60
PopMatters

Where Pride took solitude and rendered it universal through sheer expanse and force of will, Muchacho sometimes confuses the personal with the insular.

Angelom83
89

Primeira vez que ouvi a voz dele foi em 2014, assistindo no cinema o The Amazing Spider man 2. Ouvi seu álbum completo pela 1° vez 7 anos depois .. devo dizer que é um álbum muito calmante com músicas românticas, e adoro que ele usa a voz como parte do sentimento. Song For Zula é com certeza uma das melhores músicas da década passada.

dearsongs
NR

Remember listing to this a bunch with someone I'd met just before the album came out. That woman has now been my wife for the past 4 years come November.

I haven't listened to this in a long while, but I have it on now and its sounding rather great. Glad the new one came out and inspired me to re-listen.

Perhaps its that I'm more into americana now then I was back in 2013, but this thing has aged well. The second half might not be as strong as the first, but this is getting added back into ... read more

winitheju
88

Was thinking this album was mostly a one-hit wonder, but it's really fucking good

Phoenix
NR

Mucho cheerful & sentimental.

FAVORITE TRACKS: SONG FOR ZULA, THE QUOTIDIAN BEASTS, SUN'S ARISING (A KOAN, AN EXIT).

Angelom83
89

Primeira vez que ouvi a voz dele foi em 2014, assistindo no cinema o The Amazing Spider man 2. Ouvi seu álbum completo pela 1° vez 7 anos depois .. devo dizer que é um álbum muito calmante com músicas românticas, e adoro que ele usa a voz como parte do sentimento. Song For Zula é com certeza uma das melhores músicas da década passada.

winitheju
88

Was thinking this album was mostly a one-hit wonder, but it's really fucking good

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Added on: December 10, 2012