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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Saint Dymphna
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 27 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: The Social Registry
Release Date: 21 October 2008
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Experimental
Summary
The fourth album for the the Brooklyn, New York, experimental rock band.
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...
No Ripcord
Saint Dymphna is truly Gang Gang Dance and no-one else and for that they should be applauded; creating and defining your own sound is a challenge these days that many bands prefer to shirk.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
Saint Dymphna is a dangerously sane blueprint for producers trying to capture what "futuristic" sounds like right now.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
Gang Gang Dance, however, have found their voice in a world of retro revivalists and fly-by-night trendhoppers. It’s whatever they want it to be, and it’s awesome.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
It’s hip calcified, transformed from posturing into legitimate and exciting experience; it’s the channeling of well-defined musical expressions into a more powerful, unified direction.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
There’s something downright overwhelming about this disc, whether it’s the unremitting playfulness or the way the band pulls together beauty and energy from the oddest of sounds or the way over top they sometimes launch into abstract political commentary.
Read Full Review >Prefix Magazine
It’s rare to find a band with such breadth of vision, and although indie kids might balk at Saint Dymphna’s shameless embrace of the dance floor, the rest of us will be lost in its agitated reverie.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Here every sound and beat is laid bare, with no heavy reverb blanketing the songs like fog. The newfound clarity produces neither thinness nor tedium, but simply a direct, unadulterated power.
Read Full Review >Almost Cool
Weird enough to have an edge, but a huge step up in terms of production and song-writing, this is a big move forward from the group.
Read Full Review >Filter
Toggling between scurrying, bleep-spangled instruments and alien FM pop, Gang Gang excels at confounding expectations. [Fall 2008, p.100]
PopMatters
Gang Gang Dance packages all the previously mentioned genres into a nice little, seamless package.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
While the record is a solid listen front to back, standout moments include 'Princes,' which features Ghana-London rapper Tinchy Stryder, and the breathless vocals on the ghostly 'House Jam.' Watch for this album to pop up all over year-end best-of lists next month.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
It's easily their most fully realized project to date and rather than simply a pastiche, they've managed to create something that's completely their own.
Read Full Review >Blender
GGD’s career has been a gradual climb out of primordial noise muck and toward beats, and album four is their most propulsive.
Read Full Review >Billboard
Much has been made of the fact that Gang Gang Dance named this record after the patron saint of outcasts and rebels, but this effort shows more crossover potential than anything the act has ever done.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
These tracks are meticulously constructed to engulf and consume, making layers out of the Casiocore and stone-drones that contemporaries like Black Dice and Growing use to build careers.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
They’ve cleaned up and sharpeneding their characteristic compositional sprawl, these tracks inject startlingly approachable vocal melodies and production touches into their usually meditative and marauding grooves. [Year End 2008]
The Phoenix
Saint Dymphna is the sound of a band of psychedelic dabblers finally getting their shit together.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
Yet as compared to their previous efforts, the album is surprisingly accessible and at times almost poppy—a valiant attempt at distilling, or translating, the Gang Gang Dance experience into the album format.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
Despite the less-successful entries, Saint Dymphna is commendable. There’s substantially less chaos and abstractness and more pop quantization, but Gang Gang Dance are still overflowing with ideas.
Read Full Review >The Wire
It all sounds wonderful, sparkling and glistening. Yet it doesn't make a dent that one might expect. [Oct 2008, p.56]
Alternative Press
Dymphna's genre distinctions are more sophisticated and nuanced. [Dec 2008, p.152]
Spin
When the band wraps itself around singer Lizzie Bougatsos’ singular shrieks, they ascend to vertiginous heights on 'Holy Communion' and 'Dust Storm,' creating something truly transformative.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Saint Dymphna is no easier to categorize than any other GGD record, but it is easier to groove to
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Their fourth full-length begins with what sounds like a Japanese-style folk melody beamed down by synth-wielding aliens ('Bebey'). But soon, vocalist LZA is barking out gibberish verses and enthusiastic sex noises amid heavy club rhythms, and the party's on.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
Their fourth album proves more than just a trendy daliance, placing them at the cutting edge being honed by Dirty Projectirs and TV On The Radio. [Nov 2008, p.117]
Uncut
The eclectism is exhilarating. [Nov 2008, p.96]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 27 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Rob gave it a10:
An exhilarating listen from start to finish. GGD are at the top of their game and I can't wait to see what they do next. AlsoI, I'm pretty sure The Phoenix review gave the album a score of 75, not 30. On the site, it appears to be 3 out of four stars.
Matt A. gave it a9:
Please, dear God, fix that 30 from the Phoenix right now (it should be a 75). One of the best albums of the year.
Gman gave it a9:
The album of year of the year without a shadow of a doubt. The average score would be higher if it hadn't been dragged down by the review on Phoenix. If you actually check their website it's a score of 3 out of 4 NOT 3 out of 10, so it should be 75% not 30%.
Troy D. gave it a10:
My favorite album so far this year (better than "Third"), this is GGD finally releasing the huge disco beast they've held caged and writhing for years. A culmination of all their stylist collaging and (d)evolution. This is the most future-sounding album since "Kala" just last year.
S D K gave it a9:
This is a POP record people! More importantly, this is the culmination of what these peeps have been striving to release for some time (me thinks) - overall, GGD have successfully honed in on their vibe and style -- can't wait to hear what could be next!
Dan S. gave it a10:
Another fantastic offering from GGD, following through on the high expectations built up after God's Money and with promising in between projects like the Rawwar EP. More people should really give this band a listen. They offer a rare combination of sounding like no one else while also producing music that is so much better and more interesting than what the novel concept of "originality" in criticism usually allows.
