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Jul 11, 2011The music is also catchy and a little distorted, with rhythms that lag and melodies that bloom briefly before they dead-end into monotone. The strongest knock against Gardens & Villa is that the band seems too content to linger in that slow, spacey zone, instead of hitting the highs that songs like "Black Hills" and "Thorn Castles" can reach.
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Jul 28, 2011Their self-titled debut is filled with unexpected flourishes: a spiky Britpop guitar-riff here, a 1980s synth-refrain there; its influences are all over the board--and delightfully so.
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Jul 22, 2011Where at their best, Gardens & Villa may recall the harmonies of Local Natives and the hazy qualities of The Walkmen, they are clearly not (yet) at the level of either of those bands.
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Aug 2, 2011There are enough moments on this debut to make you think that Gardens & Villa might offer an even more satisfying emotional connection on its next album, with or without the flute.
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Jul 11, 2011If the ambiguous quality of their sound sometimes makes it hard to become emotionally invested in Gardens & Villa, in Lynch, they're blessed with a singer who has remarkable presence and poise.