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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 8 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Nonesuch
Release Date: 09 June 2009
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Folk
Summary
The first album on the Nonesuch label for the trio of Rhode Islanders.
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...
PopMatters
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin is a lovely self-release in a beautiful homemade sleeve from a group who can really play.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
There's a lot of ground covered here, of course, yet the band never loses sight of its destination, and those who can keep up are in for a tuneful journey.
Read Full Review >Uncut
The album closes with a reprise of 'To Ohio'--possibly superfluous given the perfection of the earlier version, but the only marginal misjudgement on an otherwise largely faultless album.
Read Full Review >Mojo
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin may well be the second best cabin-in-winter indie album ever made. [Jul 2009, p.96]
Drowned In Sound
Just as Waits has the power to infuse you with familiarity with the return of a chord, so do the songs of Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, like an embroidered pillow on an old porch that says ‘home sweet home’.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
As they expose the fragility of love and ultimately humanity, and mourn evolution's victims, they pitch themselves somewhere between Neil Young's heart-rending "Needle And The Damage Done" and a hard-bitten Dylan going electric, all the while retracing traditional folk's footsteps with a wonderfully homespun flourish.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
They're intriguingly ambivalent, but the conundrums are so beautifully and hauntingly put, you'll want to revisit them. [Jul 2009, p.125]
Under The Radar
Re-mastered and re-sequenced from the album's initial September 2008 release, Oh My God flawlessly balances heartfelt warbles with gritty countryside wails.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle
The Low Anthem finds the balance of apocalypse and subtlety sought by the Avett or Felice Brothers but never wrangled so effectively.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
A peek at the liner notes for Oh My God, Charlie Darwin—which solemnly states that the album was recorded “in the solace of a Block Island winter”--suggests that Rhode Island’s The Low Anthem is angling to be this year’s Bon Iver. The music itself does nothing to dispel the notion.
Read Full Review >Filter
As Anthem's zithers, pump organs, oil drums, and tibetan singing bowls thrum like summer insects, scientists and spiritualist alike can't help but bow to these haunting paeans to America's heartland. [Summer 2009, p.100]
New Musical Express
A welcome addition to the intricate patchwork quilt of the new wave of Americana.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
The Low Anthem still needs to devise its own uptempo approach. But the quieter the music gets, in an elegy like 'To Ohio' or a conditional reassurance like '(Don’t) Tremble,' the more its music inhabits its own otherworldly place, where ghosts and angels hover just out of view.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
'Oh My God' drags during the sparser songs, and the too-cute 'Charlie Darwin' suffers from lyrics like "The lords of war just profit from decay." But pretty ones like 'Cage the Songbird' are comfort-food folk and uptempo tracks like the raucous, Pogues-y singalong 'The Horizon Is a Beltway' are even better.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
M S gave it a7:
Schizophrenic in its mellowness and straight out country guitar-outs. Probably the second best Neil Young album you'll hear this year.
Hoover P gave it a9:
If you read Christian Hoard's 3-sentence review in RollingStone, you'll realize he may not have even listened to the whole album. I can't believe RS even paid him for such a lazy, slapdash effort.
Isaac gave it a9:
This album is absolutely outstanding. As with most albums that aren't about stupid pop rock, I highly recommend you read the lyrics as you listen along to get the full experience. This album is wonderfully diverse. From the rich, sorrowful lyrics of "Ticket Taker" to the creepy instrumentals of "Music Box" to the hardish rock of "The Horizon is a Beltway" The Low Anthem demonstrates it isn't another indie band singing about a bad break up. I highly recommend this album, you won't regret buying it.
