Tim O'Neil
Feed the Animals is a wonderful achievement, but don’t take my pseudo-intellectual pontification as proof of anything, go listen to it yourself.
15y
The only thing that prevents Fantastic Playroom from being a wholly perfect creation is the simple fact that, as good as it is, this is still only their first album.
11y
Just about every segment of James’ career is recalled somewhere during Rushup Edge’s running time, and it’s hard to escape the notion that, if the album does not tread a single foot in any new direction, it is as perfect a summation of James’ career to date as you could hope to find.
10y
The album is filled with strong pop-punk turns, offset by a handful of regrettable ballads.
12y
There are moments when they seem to lose sight of what it is exactly that makes them so interesting to begin with, writing songs that seem stuck halfway between dance and conventional indie rock.
15y
I suspect that it will be one of those albums that people might dismiss today but will go back to in six months or six years, in the process rediscovering a treasure trove of interesting music.
12y
Return to Cookie Mountain is pretty much the definition of a mixed-bag, albeit a much better album than is usually implied by the term.
15y
The rambunctious, ferociously energetic garage pop that formed the backbone of their debut is nowhere to be found. There is a discipline to the group’s sound now, a control that belies their chaotic origins.
15y
The pieces add up to something greater than the sum of their parts, and hearing the otherwise disparate, disorderly strands of modern noise pollution cohere into grand order is a unique pleasure.
11y
There’s no faulting the majority of the music that appears on Can You Dig It? — as a compendium for those who can’t be bothered to actually buy the real albums, I suppose you could do worse.
2y
Throughout the album, the juxtaposition of Herbert's precise, seemingly innocent and light-hearted rhythms with heavier themes of economic exploitation and death creates an effective and practical dialectic.
2y
The Kaiser Chiefs are not a bad group ... just terribly mediocre. For every good song on this album, there’s another that slides in one ear and falls out the other.
12y
If you’re looking for high-concept or cutting-edge, you won’t find it here, but those willing to contemplate a more tranquil musical design will find much to appreciate on Morning Star.
2mo
If Up In Flames makes anything clear, Snaith is at or near the top of this class. The opportunity to rifle through his back pages yields significant pleasures.
11y
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