Gauntlet Hair - Stills
Critic Score
Based on 16 reviews
2013 Ratings: #1035 / 1115
User Score
Based on 6 ratings
July 16, 2013 / Release Date
LP / Format
Dead Oceans / Label
Indie Rock / Genre
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CRITIC REVIEWS

70
NME

‘Stills’ cuts out the needless meandering and instead digs up prime nuggets of psych-garage and short, sharp shocks of shoegaze after a poke from a cattle prod.

70
Consequence of Sound

An initial passing might imply Stills is merely a darker version of its predecessor, but further listens expose a deeper attention to dynamic changes, to tonal shifts, and to momentum in general.

68
Pitchfork

This is ultimately a transitory record, its gate-crashing momentum tempered by songs that feel like holdovers from Gauntlet Hair’s more whimsical debut.

60
DIY

‘Stills’ is the musical equivalent of the sun disappearing behind a cloud for a brief moment; it gives you a chance to look up at the sky, but you’re still glad to get the sun back.

50
musicOMH

It’s an exhausting listen in general, with the singles standing head and shoulders above the rest and it is head-scratchingly confusing how a band can be intriguing and beguiling one minute and then downright irritating the next.

50
PopMatters

An effort of fits and starts that has no trouble getting going, but also reflect a band that’s not quite sure where it wants to get to.

50
The 405

Craig and Andy have managed to create an album that almost captures the mood and atmosphere of the records that inspired their youth, but the drum machines break the illusion and make you realise that what you're listening to is just an imitation.

50
The Line of Best Fit

It sounds great, but it’s more the trappings of greatness being imitated and reproduced here than the substance and truth of real brilliance.

40
Drowned in Sound

Somewhere under all this reverb and murk, Gauntlet Hair may yet have the makings of a fine band, but the album burns out long before they have an opportunity to reveal wether this is true.

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Track List

  1. Human Nature
  2. Spew
  3. Simple
  4. Bad Apple
  5. New To It
  6. Obey Me
  7. Heave
  8. G.I.D.
  9. Falling Out
  10. Waste Your Art

Year End Lists

#98/Crack Magazine
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Added on: April 18, 2013