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Far from an easygoing slice of complacent contentedness, Kensington Heights finds the band pinpointing its angry energy with expert precision, rather than flailing with the wild abandon of old.
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In many ways, Kensington Heights is what maturity sounds like, done right: too young to relinquish their punk energy and too experienced to let it limit their songwriting, the band has combined their twin urges into a single path.
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If "Tournament Of Hearts" lacked consistency and focus, Heights feels like a fully realized artistic statement. Welcome back, Constantines.
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Under The RadarThe Constantines have the confidence to place the melodies upfront, then bury more beneath them, so that the songs retain that wild sense of discovery. p[Spring 2008, p.75]
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Kensington Heights, like its predecessor, isn't as fiery as the best moments on the band's inconsistent breakthrough, 2003's "Shine a Light," but the Constantines still deliver bedrock strength and eternal-flame passion.
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Jumping from Sub Pop to Toronto-based Arts & Crafts, the band is as strong and endearing as ever on Kensington Heights.
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Kensington Heights isn’t drastically different from anything that’s come before, but it’s Constantines’ most consistent album so far, and a good starting point for anyone who hasn’t heard them and misses that old-time galvanizing, anthemic music.
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The result is a batch of songs that are as direct and deeply personal as they are fist-pumpingly universal.
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In highlighting the more tasteful, nuances of their sounds, they’ve emerged with a more cohesive whole, a representation that better captures their classic-rock heart while simultaneously stripping the fat away and revealing the core behind the chaos.
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For the Constantines thoughtfulness transforms brute force.
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Even if Kensington Heights is the Constantines' least satisfying album, the band's sound is never less than mighty; it's just disappointing how easy it is to let so many songs here fade into the background
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Beautifully recorded, and alive with the unpredictable energy that drives those killer live shows, Kensington Heights demonstrates the band’s maturity, and their well-earned confidence.
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The fourth LP from this gritty Toronto five-piece offers a few genuine gems sprinkled among many more tracks borne out of blue-collar blood, sweat and tears.
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No doubt that the best halves of this and "Tournament of Hearts" would equal a breakthrough album for the group, but taken as a whole, Kensington Heights sounds like a decisive break in the band's stride.
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Kensington Heights is a mixed bag of aesthetically correct placeholders. [May 2008, p[.98]
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Kensington Heights matches up each spectacular moment with an equally mundane one.
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Q MagazineWhile 'New King' and 'Time Can Be Overcome' are heartland country-rock classics, the funk-flecked 'Trans Canada' and feedback-frazzled 'Shower Of Stones' take a cue frrom dub-punk icons Fugazi. [Oct 2008, p.141]