Fantastic Playroom - New Young Pony Club
Metascore
69 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
view
per page
  1. PopMatters
    90
    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.
  2. Pitchfork
    82
    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.
  3. All Music Guide
    80
    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.
  4. NOW Magazine
    80
    If Fantastic is saying anything meaningful, it's "shut the hell up and have some fun."
  5. New Musical Express (NME)
    70
    Fantastic Playroom packs enough innovation in its boosters to reach new rave escape velocity.
  6. musicOMH.com
    70
    As singles, most of these songs would fly off of the shelves, but taken as a whole album it can get a bit tiring.
  7. BBC collective
    70
    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.
  8. Drowned In Sound
    60
    After the sass and bluster of the first half, the record settles into a rather one-dimensional groove.
  9. Prefix Magazine
    60
    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.
  10. Lost At Sea
    51
    The icy joylessness with which Bulmer humors her band's recordings doesn't ruin everything, shockingly enough.
  11. The Guardian
    40
    Over a whole album, the formula wears thin, and they sound like a band trying too hard to be trendy.
  12. Stylus Magazine
    16
    New Young Pony Club claim they can give us what we want, but they haven’t got a clue what we need.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 41 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 19
  3. Negative: 8 out of 19
  1. JusticeB
    10
    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?… Full Review »
  2. moeiswe
    10
    i think they're good and i like css too.
  3. CiaranM.
    8
    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.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »