Soccer Mommy - Clean
Critic Score
Based on 21 reviews
2018 Ratings: #232 / 890
Year End Rank: #28
User Score
Based on 902 ratings
2018 Rank: #212
Liked by 86 people
March 2, 2018 / Release Date
LP / Format
Fat Possum / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
Albumism
Even against dreamy Deerhoof-style production, Soccer Mommy’s debut is consistently fun, with freshly journaled lyrics on top of charming lo-fi rock.
90
The Line of Best Fit

Clean showcases what it is to be stuck in a quicksand of self-loathing, and have it stop you from seeing your own accomplishments and more importantly, being proud of them. If Allison isn’t already chuffed with this debut, she should be.

84
Pitchfork

Still trading in piercing vulnerability, Clean is Allison’s excellent studio debut: a compact album of clear melodies, plainspoken lyrics, and the impossibly tangled logic of infatuation.

83
Paste

With Clean, she may have again left her bedroom for the studio, but her introspective and comfortably confessional lyrics maintain their intimacy and diary-scrawl relatability.

80
Exclaim!

Clean explores feelings of infatuation, insecurity, and acceptance as Allison wearily enters adulthood ... Allison is promptly hitting her stride and clearly gaining confidence and showing it with strands of snarkiness and angst mixed within her delicate, vulnerable songs.

80
RIOT
Compiling to form a coming-of-age story, each track tells a tale of naivety, love, or anger, and mirrors a growth in both Allison’s music and transition from teenhood to early adulthood.
80
The Young Folks
There are a few moments that are a bit too quiet for my own taste, but the overall coherence of the themes and the sound is a good indicator of a strong talent that will hopefully continue to blossom on each subsequent release.
80
The Independent

The combination of melancholy interspersed with anger dominates Soccer Mommy’s debut as she reels through the limbo of young adulthood: it’s something that would make both Alanis Morissette and Taylor Swift proud.

80
Clash
A singular, precise, and continually inviting experience, ‘Clean’ finds Soccer Mommy reaching a new level of artistry, using her earlier releases as a bedrock to support her ambitions.
80
DIY
Stepping beyond the groundwork of her debut collection, and sounding all the more confident for it, Sophie Allison shoots, and she scores.
80
The 405

With Clean, Allison has delivered one of early 2018’s easiest albums to simply enjoy. If you’ve been a human being for all of your life, you will recognise very well the experiences related throughout its fleeting 35 minutes.

80
No Ripcord

Allison is a beguiling romantic who doesn’t hold any punches but also considers others’ changing behavior. Always true to her word, she carries onward, and a little more empowered, until it’s time to take on the next hurdle.

80
NME
The production trickery, paired with Allison’s lyrical nuances, make her songwriting, and this debut record, a dazzling and devastating triumph.
80
AllMusic
Throughout the album, Allison's vulnerable delivery and quietly tormented lyrics stick as much as hooks, artfully gradated guitar tones, and haunting echo that's mostly reserved for accompaniment, but they all work together in unsettled harmony.
75
Northern Transmissions

While Soccer Mommy showed a range of ideas on Collection, she tightens things down to a concentrated melancholy this time around. The band’s emotional control makes every song instantly affecting, but they end up meditating on the same ideas again and again.

75
Spectrum Culture
Few albums in recent memory have been this upfront and plain with their anxiety. No need to muddy it with abstractions, just get to the meat of the depression.
70
Under the Radar

Clean's plentiful highlights suggest that Allison might one day deliver a true indie classic.

70
Uncut
"Dog" is a reverb-heavy highlight, but the whole set is as instantly likeable as it is smart.
70
PopMatters
As far as her musical maturity is concerned, Allison has quickly come of age. Indeed, great things are yet to come from Soccer Mommy.
60
Mojo

Allison's verge-of-tears delivery is another sign that Clean's grown-up vibe can't hide the vulnerable teen within.

60
Q Magazine

Within its polished melancholy, Clean is a raw portrait of sadness.

lemuriams
88

My biggest overlook of the year so far. Brilliant record

MaceBlade42
55

It's very good background music, but I don't find it something that I'd return to a lot. I may not like it, but that doesn't mean it's inherently bad.

goncalocouto
80

my first thought about this was: "haven't i heard all of this before?". indie guitar album fronted by a female. it's been done before and done well. yet, there is something tempting about this Soccer Mommy record and something that sets it apart from other names

SEIS
45

Nice try.

Felix_96
80

8/10

exceptional

Fav tracks: Still Clean, Cool, Your Dog, Flaw, Blossom, Last Girl, Skin, Scorpio Rising, Wildflowers

likethomasorsm
94

possibly THE essential female indie rock record.

some people may overlook the melodies on here but each one is memorable and the record is tied together very nicely with a reprise of the first song's melody in the last song.

vastly underrated album, I highly recommend it.

why are all the songs rated high 80s-90s but the album in the 70s? I'll never know

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Added on: January 9, 2018