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The Friends of Rachel Worth is the first new Go-Betweens album in a dozen years, and, remarkably, it's as if they were never away.... an ever-so-slightly-updated sound with a hint of lo-fi -- something the Go-Betweens pioneered on their earliest albums, before they found their more renowned intimate style.
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Poetic, languid, spoken/sung vocals similar to Lou Reed weave between lovely melodies whose appeal is evident usually after repeated listenings.... Its highlights recall the past glories of this commercially overlooked band, and adds a handful of keepers to their best work.
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Twelve years after the band split, it's immensely reassuring to hear Forster deliver lines only he could have written in his bruised, laconic, declamatory tone...
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...a spontaneity here that replaces the formality of tradition with something more vital. Like a snapshot's moment captured, the gap between composition and recording seems to have been reduced to nothing, and it's here that the group hit their mark.
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A thoroughly modern, introspective album... The lush sound of earlier Go-Betweens albums has been traded for simpler, more restrained instrumentation even when accented with cello and violin.
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SelectAn album that sits together with silken cohesion... (Oct 2000, p.108)
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A slow-burn knockout.
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Quite possibly their best album.
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Wall of SoundAs always, the acoustic pop tracks remain the Go-Between's most effective.... It's clear that the band's heyday, those heady times that supplied fans with a surfeit of astonishingly good pop songs... are over, but there's also no doubt that McLennan and Forster can still turn out quality goods.
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For a band returning from a decade-long sabbatical, these guys are surprisingly spry. Their consistency is also, to some degree, their downfall, since they still sound uncannily mid-'80s.... But even past their prime, the Go-Betweens are still better than anything on present alternative radio playlists.
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UncutSignals a further burst of creativity, suggesting there are still great things to come from the Australian Lennon & McCartney. [Jul 2002, p.123]
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PunctureFriends of Rachel Worth is a good album, and features some of the best songwriting either of the pari have come up with since early in their solo careers.... How shall we sum it up, then? An interesting footnote. A fan club record.... [#47, p.25]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 6
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Mixed: 1 out of 6
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Negative: 1 out of 6
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SaulBApr 16, 2005Fantastic. One of their best. Not a dud in the nunch. As good as liberty bell. A very mature pop record.