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...

100

Delusions of Adequacy

You will not be able to tear yourself away from this album. This is no daringly outrageous, Kid A-esque “progressive” music that nobody really enjoys listening to. This is rock 'n roll.

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100

musicOMH.com

The Loon will stand up as one of the best albums of the year, and Tapes 'n Tapes as a jewel in the American music crown.

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Lost At Sea

The first must-listen record of the year.

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Urb

This rocking trio is so good, we don't even care that it made a plethora of best-of-2005 lists--it'll end up on our rocking list for the '06. [Jul/Aug 2006, p.132]

cokemachineglow

The Loon is nothing short of an incredibly focused song suite, minus all the extraneous frivolities that you’ve gotten too used to hearing from an "incredibly focused song suite."

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Pitchfork

Never quite knowing which Feelies riff or Malkmus vocal turn or, hell, CYHSY organ sound these guys will strike with next is precisely what makes The Loon such a rich, participatory, and eminently repeatable experience.

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Entertainment Weekly

The Loon excites with twisty guitar tangents, an airtight country two-step, and commanding choruses that Grier belts out with the fervor of a preacher. [28 Jul 2006, p.67]

Slant Magazine

A sprawling delight that only gets richer with each successive listen.

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The Guardian

Tapes 'n Tapes might have to dismantle their influences soon. But right now, they're building something beautiful.

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Playlouder

'The Loon' retains a genuinely empathetic sincerity that deserves applause, but should be praised to a greater degree for bringing weird, left-of-centre indie back to the fore.

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New Musical Express

And yet for all the disparate elements, we haven't heard a record all year so secure in its own vision, or a collection of songs that sound so much like they need to be together. The only downside of this is it kind of smothers the potential for standout Oh. My. God. moments.

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Spin

Even when you're not sure where they're going, you can't wait to see what happens when they get there. [Aug 2006, p.86]

Paste Magazine

An original and largely unaffected effort that reminds you why you dug indie rock's yesteryear. [Aug 2006, p.87]

Austin Chronicle

The Loon is an exercise in heavy-lidded ballsiness.

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Uncut

They've yet to match the live genius of the [Arcade] Fire, but their album's got much more life than their static stage shows. [Aug 2006, p.95]

All Music Guide

The Loon is crafted like a true album; even if all the songs don't quite reach the level of its highlights, it all hangs together well.

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PopMatters

A solid, solid debut with enough tunes to last the summer, at least.

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Billboard

On first listen, "The Loon" is not as immediate as several key tracks are individually. But after further study, the pieces eventually fall into place, and it becomes clear that this foursome has a solid debut on its hands.

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Rolling Stone

The Loon is a rare thing: an indie-rock record that's as lovable as it is bewildering.

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Under The Radar

It’s not hard to grasp the appeal of their music; it’s just hard to understand why it’s eliciting such a strong response. [#14]

BBC collective

The Loon owes so much to Stephen Malkmus and Frank Black that one imagines lawyers might be called.

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Q Magazine

At times they lack the focus to quite surmount their influences. [Aug 2006, p.117]

Blender

Tapes 'n Tapes take not just their frazzled vocals but also their low-fi mixes, fuzzed-out guitars, semi-sequitur lyrics, falsetto refrains and general air of nearly falling apart from campus kings Pavement. [Aug 2006, p.114]

Prefix Magazine

We know this routine well; it's comfortable and pleasing to the ears. But throw on a disc by one of the originators (Pavement) or the cream of the modern crop (Wolf Parade) and Tapes 'n Tapes is trumped hands-down.

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Dot Music

To be fair, "The Loon" stops short of pastiche, but it is too transparently a paean to Tape 'n Tapes' heroes.

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E! Online

[A] thoroughly underwhelming debut, an album that merely paints within the lines already drawn by Pavement and the Pixies.

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Stylus Magazine

They want to be every band to every bloke, shuffling between genres in an effort to jack all and master nada.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 54 User Votes

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

Marc gave it a10:
This is just really, really good. Pure and simple.

Eric L. gave it a9:
It's awesome dude. As indie groups seem to be moving away from the fury, Tapes N Tapes keeps it alive with their Sonic Youth or Smashing Pumpkin screeches of distortion. The Loon kicks ass.

Karl C. gave it a10:
Totally amazing! This album rocks throughout. Tapes is so refreshing to hear, a blend of Pixes-Violent Femmes- and their own sound. Totally recommend.

Nicole L gave it a10:
I love this CD. It's different. It's not a "moody" CD. I can listen to it when Im happy, tired, sad, mad....anything. They know their stuff and they're wicked live!

jay gave it an8:
This album reminds me why I stay on metacritic. To find something that stands out that I might not have found. A cross between The Strokes and Arcade Fire with more of an upbeat. Take that suckas!!!

jb gave it a4:
Totally overhyped stuff.

paul k gave it a10:
My favorite album this year. Yes, you hear their influences, and I found that very distracting at first and almost dismissed this out of hand. But, the more you listen to it, the less you hear others and the more this sounds like Tapes 'n Tapes. This isn't the best album this band is going to make by far, and I expect that looking back on it later I'm going to be a lot more critical of it again in retrospect. I love this bad though, and this is good stuff. FYI, it's not Pavement you twat, it's way more Pixies. If you're intelligent enough to get over the Artic Monkeys sounding like the Libertines, then you'll enjoy this.

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