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PopMatters

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.

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Pitchfork

Fantastic Playroom puts the emphasis on the content, not the trend, and in so doing makes a damn good case for post-punk's matriculation.

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All Music Guide

It is a fetching 40-minute album, with each song supplying its own set of penetrating hooks, ear-ticklingly sharp guitars, moody synthesizer gauze, and mobile rhythms.

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NOW Magazine

If Fantastic is saying anything meaningful, it's "shut the hell up and have some fun."

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musicOMH.com

As singles, most of these songs would fly off of the shelves, but taken as a whole album it can get a bit tiring.

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BBC collective

NYPC's restrained disco needs to rip it up and get wilder, cos this down‘n’dirty posse is actually cleaner than a Boots cosmetics counter.

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New Musical Express

Fantastic Playroom packs enough innovation in its boosters to reach new rave escape velocity.

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Drowned In Sound

After the sass and bluster of the first half, the record settles into a rather one-dimensional groove.

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Prefix Magazine

It's almost as if Fantastic Playroom is trying to do too much. With so many agendas, it's a miracle that New Young Pony Club ended up all on the same page at all. Such ambition makes Fantastic Playroom a disjointed experience, but its triumphs are worth delighting in.

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Lost At Sea

The icy joylessness with which Bulmer humors her band's recordings doesn't ruin everything, shockingly enough.

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The Guardian

Over a whole album, the formula wears thin, and they sound like a band trying too hard to be trendy.

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Stylus Magazine

New Young Pony Club claim they can give us what we want, but they haven’t got a clue what we need.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 6.2 (out of 10) based on 37 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Justice B gave it a10:
To the CSS fan(s) you should know that Ice Cream and The Get Go were originally released in 2005 and CSS were aware of it. The bands are both fans of each other too so what's you problem?

Ciaran M. gave it an8:
I can't understand the extremely negative comments below. All I'll say is, this is a fun, catchy modern alternative electro pop album. "The Get Go" is a particularly impressive track.

Matt B. gave it an8:
This is a great debut. Rare to get such quality across a whole album - and creative writing throughout. Their confidence is evident in great hooks and expert pacing. Sure, they've chosen a familiar sound, but when it's delivered so well, you keep coming back for more. Highly recommended.

Music M. gave it an8:
NYPC have a slightly arty, danceable rock sound, influenced by Blondie and Talking Heads. Fantastic Playroom is stocked with catchy songs that may not be deep, but they're not disposable either. The album is compulsively listenable and satisfying. As for those claiming they ripped off CSS, I would argue that both bands could be accused of borrowing from a similar set of influences. CSS has one of their songs in an iPod commercial now, so they're certainly not being overlooked or denied their chance at stardom because of NYPC!

Richard S. gave it a7:
The album is ok and whoever is leaving all those zeros...dude stop using diff. names we know you are the same person.

Jully M. gave it a0:
CSS did the same thing before. And better!

Amy S. gave it a0:
The great biggest farce of the year: This wanna be's CSS-Retro-Electro-Schockers "band". Uncomfortably, vary bad imitation of CSS, they do the right and real stuff, and not plastic stuff like NYPC.

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Fantastic Playroom

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