Broken Side Of Time

This long-awaited debut album proper from the preacher-chic-touting fivesome is an intoxicating mix of apocalyptic riffs, sob-worthy singalongs and brooding blues.

Noel Gallagher-approved Alberta Cross's first offering fulfils the promise of 2007's "The Thief & The Heartbreaker" EP. [Oct 2009, p.105]

On this debut album, the plaintive dizziness of Peter Ericson Stakee's vocals is offset by crashing guitars and wind-swept epic aesthetics that recall The Verve's early post-shoegazing incarnation, then City Walls comes on like a socially maladjusted Kasabian. [Feb 2010, p. 104]

What can be said for Alberta Cross's debut LP is that it does what it does very well, and the good and great of songwriting deserve recognition regardless of how conventionally they reach their goals.

The band's debut album, Broken Side of Time, is a coherent work fashioned from a throwback aesthetic.

The combination of seismic guitars and high vocals looks to My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon and Crazy Horse--sometimes all too obviously. But Alberta Cross sets aside those American bands’ redemptive undercurrents of blues and gospel; instead, it plunges into the very English despair of bands like Pink Floyd.

It’s a slow burner with nary a hook in sight, and vocalist/guitar player Petter Ericson Stakee’s theatric mumbles can be an acquired taste, but listeners with a CD collection that leans heavily on bands like Catherine Wheel, Sixteen Horsepower, the Cult, and Kings of Leon will find this dense monolith of roots-based stoner rock to be the perfect late-night companion for a dark summer highway.

Some real quality lies within, but it’s difficult to lose yourself entirely when you know you can’t trust it not to wander off down the wrong path.

There's excitement her in 'ATX' and the title track, but when the bluster's died down, disappointingly little is left. [Oct 2009, p.89]