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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
These Were The Earlies
Universal acclaim
Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 25 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Secretly Canadian
Release Date: 25 October 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock, Electronic
Summary
The half American, half English four-piece make their debut with an album that, like Manitoba's Up In Flames, combines organic and electronic elements from a variety of genres into a unique psychedelic stew.
Also By This Artist: Enemy Chorus
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
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...
New Musical Express
This music is the electronic, Warp-inspired answer to Brian Wilson's 'Smile.' [31 Jul 2004, p.41]
Uncut
An outstanding record which you'd be unwise to miss. [Aug 2004, p.91]
Under The Radar
An astoundingly accomplished collection of flawlessly interesting and compulsively beautiful songs. [#8, p.109]
Austin Chronicle
The disc alternates between unsettling, exhilarating, and devastating in its emotional impact; it's also difficult not to get distracted by everything going on musically.
Read Full Review >Mojo
A band who aim foolishly high but always return, wings intact. [Sep 2004, p.92]
Drowned In Sound
The Earlies are like a stripped-down take on the [Flaming] Lips: psychedelic, lo-fi and indie in the purest sense of the word.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
Given that it’s a collection of EPs and singles, These Were the Earlies is predictably all over the map, a problem exacerbated by the Earlies’ wide-ranging stylistic ambitions and long-distance collaborative methods.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
What's impressive is the way they bring all these elements together, the natural world leading seamlessly into a brighter landscape of surreal otherness.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
A work of baroque detail, crossing between Mercury Rev's psychedelic Americana and The Beta Band's bucolic electronica. [Aug 2004, p.110]
Pitchfork
A deliriously ambitious record packed with neo-psych lullabies and swooning choruses.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
The album still holds together with a surprising cohesiveness, which is essential when crafting a debut that relies far more on the effect of its ambitious whole than any specific genre-bending tracks.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
A set of saccharine sweet songs which occasionally dissolve spectacularly in a haze of whirring electronic mist.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
As a headphone album, 'These Were... The Earlies' is something of a stunner.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Imagin[e] the Beach Boys getting strung out in a field on cider midmorning in some alternative universe Texas, surrounded by retro-sounding DIY synths, a raggedy brass section, and a hippy cello player.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
It's not half-bad, providing you can get over the fact that the Earlies have yet to find a sound to call their own.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 25 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Alex A gave it a5:
Boring and pretentious.
Jim O'Rourke gave it a5:
Really pretentious and utterly forgettable, aside from 2 songs.
Lawless R gave it a6:
some songs have promise, but most of it is damn boring.
Ryan M gave it a10:
Stellar first album
SWM gave it a9:
One of the best albums of the year, the sheer amount of different trippy sounds on here in mind-numbing.
Sean T gave it an8:
pretty damn good experimental pop with good orchestration and sound samples.
james d gave it a10:
The depth of sound on this album is incredible. So many bands strive to be either a good live act or good studio band but The Earlies seem to succeed effortlessly at both. Future classic.
