> Switch to Advanced Search

New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

80 American Music Club
61 Anti-Flag
71 Apes
69 The Apples In Stereo
81 Atlas Sound
68 Atmosphere
71 Autechre
79 Kevin Ayers
62 B-52s
82 Erykah Badu
68 Bauhaus
70 Be Your Own Pet
73 Beach House
72 Bell X1
65 The Big Sleep
74 The Black Crowes
77 The Black Keys
88 Bon Iver
75 Boris
71 Born Ruffians
72 Billy Bragg
74 The Breeders
50 The Brian Jonestown Massacre
80 British Sea Power
73 Cadence Weapon
67 Mariah Carey
87 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
68 Clinic
78 The Constantines
74 Elvis Costello & The Impostors
63 Counting Crows
74 Crystal Castles
59 Danity Kane
53 Craig David
75 Ray Davies
80 Death Cab For Cutie
61 Gavin DeGraw
69 Del The Funky Homosapien
78 Destroyer
79 DeVotchKa
77 diskJokke
81 The Dodos
59 Does It Offend You, Yeah?
57 Mike Doughty
67 Justin Townes Earle
74 Kathleen Edwards
82 Elbow
66 Elf Power
72 Estelle
70 Evangelista
66 The Feeling
77 Tim Fite
79 Flight Of The Conchords
54 Flo Rida
77 Flogging Molly
75 Foals
82 Frightened Rabbit
80 Fuck Buttons
61 Ghostland Observatory
76 Gnarls Barkley
78 Goldfrapp
66 The Gossip
70 Grand Archives
60 Adam Green
61 Guillemots
80 The Gutter Twins
77 Headlights
86 Hercules And Love Affair
78 Howlin Rain
68 Alan Jackson
61 Janet Jackson
58 Junkie XL
74 The Kills
79 Kaki King
65 The Kooks
54 Kula Shaker
69 Lady Antebellum
66 Ladyhawk
71 Daniel Lanois
77 The Last Shadow Puppets
63 Leona Lewis
71 Jamie Lidell
73 The Long Blondes
79 Los Campesinos!
64 Lyrics Born
71 M83
66 Madonna
76 Stephen Malkmus
75 Man Man
80 Matmos
83 James McMurtry
70 Colin Meloy
72 Tift Merritt
83 Meshuggah
65 Kylie Minogue
63 Moby
67 Allison Moorer
63 Morcheeba
69 Van Morrison
74 The Mountain Goats
75 Murder By Death
75 Mystery Jets
79 Neon Neon
79 The Night Marchers
64 Nine Inch Nails
76 Nine Inch Nails
78 No Age
68 No Kids
80 Jim Noir
70 Panic At The Disco
73 Dolly Parton
74 Pete & The Pirates
75 Phantom Planet
74 Plants and Animals
85 Portishead
56 The Presidents Of The United States Of America
76 Pride Tiger
65 The Proclaimers
78 Prodigy [of Mobb Deep]
79 R.E.M.
76 The Raconteurs
72 The Raveonettes
87 Robyn
69 Pete Rock
74 The Rolling Stones
80 The Roots
59 Rick Ross
77 The Ruby Suns
81 Santogold
76 She & Him
51 Simple Plan
65 Ashlee Simpson
71 Snoop Dogg
81 Sun Kil Moon
67 Supergrass
79 Switches
72 The Sword
70 Tall Firs
61 Tapes 'n Tapes
64 The Teenagers
76 These New Puritans
71 These United States
78 Thrice
69 Tokyo Police Club
78 Jim White
76 Why?
62 Widespread Panic
76 Young Knives

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Unfamiliar Faces
by Matt Costa


6.0

based on 13 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 7 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Official Artist Site

The California-born singer's follow-up to his 2006 record was produced by No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont.

LABEL:	Brushfire
RELEASE DATE:	22 January 2008
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rock, Indie, Singer-Songwriter

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly

With a plucky guitar, harmonica, piano, and sun-burnished vocals, Costa knows how to work gospel's euphoric uplift into secular music, though he follows the blueprints of his idol (a 'Hurdy Gurdy Man'-era Donovan) a tad too closely.

Q Magazine

His second album is braver and more expansive and, in the case of 'Cigarette Eyes,' surprisingly angry. He's getting near to brilliant. [Feb 2008, p.95]

Filter

'Emergency Call,' with its Jerry Rafferty-esque hook, marks the highpoint of the album. But the ditties are offset by introspective ballads like 'Never Looking Back,' with its mournful melody, and 'Bound,' a song in which Matt gets his dander up and renounces a woman who’s wronged him.

Hot Press

Many of the ditties on Unfamiliar Faces bring us right back to the golden age of singer-songwriters.

All Music Guide

Matt Costa's sophomore effort, Unfamiliar Faces, finds the singer/songwriter delving into similar territory to his 2006 debut, "Songs We Sing," crafting hummable, somewhat intricate AM pop-influenced tracks.

PopMatters

There’s no question Costa has progressed since his first EP. But as he ventures on his musical journey through the past, he might want to look at the albums of the 1960s icons he so admires and think about if their "progress" improved their music or diluted it.

NOW Magazine

Still, despite his naive imitations, Costa has a gift for catchy hooks, and once he figures out who he is musically, the results could be remarkable.

Pitchfork

Certainly there's more to Costa than a one-man acoustical jam, even if his pleasure zone isn't far from the AM Gold dial.

Prefix Magazine

With such a young, singular talent, it’s a shame to hear him aping other styles when he clearly is full of a wealth of unexplored talent.

Mojo

It makes poetic sense but, like many autobiographical songwriters, he knows the stories so well he fails to tell them. [Feb 2008, p.112]

Uncut

This is scant compensation for his lack of fire, lyrical inspiration, or indeed anything that might distinguish him from his legion of peers. [Mar 2008, p.85]

Paste Magazine

Costa’s jazz-tinged neo-folk songs are boyishly engaging for as long as they last, but they drift away without leaving a trace, as he too often settles for merely maintaining a feathery, bittersweet modality, so that the McCartney-esque tunefulness of the title track, the Mungo Jerry-like lilt of 'Miss Magnolia' and the ever-so-slight edginess of 'Cigarette Eyes' stand out by default.

Observer Music Monthly

Costa's sophomore album is every bit as anaemic as the Johnson connection suggests.

The average user rating for this album is 6.0 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

M M. gave it a5:
While I don't think it's quite as subpar as all the critics seem to feel, the album is missing something. Maybe it's Costa's inability to come across as anything but a copy cat songwriter: he's doing nothing original here whatsoever. That's not to say the album is completely devoid of any redeeming qualities: there are some decent pop tunes here. However, I don't feel I'll be coming back to this very often during the remainder of the year.

Kevin B. gave it an8:
This is an album that grew on me. After the first time i listened to it I didn't really like it that much but after seeing him preform live i haven't been able to put it down. It's the type of album that gets better eveytime you listen to it.

Allen M. gave it a6:
Just OK. It sounded a bit like Paul McCartney's newest. ("Memory Almost Full.")

Nick D gave it a7:
Not as eclectic or interesting as his debut, this is still a pleasant set of songs with some toe-tapping highlights ("Mr. Pitiful", "Miss Magnolia", "Vienna", and "Never Looking Back" - the last of which sounds a lot like The Decemberists). To me it's a slight step backward but not exactly a misstep.

Laurence S. gave it an8:
Definite growth from his first album to his second, although he may want to watch out for similarities to other bands...both Filter and Mungo Jerry are represented here quite openly.

Discuss this album in our forums

Return to top of page

Unfamiliar Faces by Matt Costa

Unfamiliar Faces
by Matt Costa