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This is the problem that bands face when they go from the thrill of making the first record to the grind of having to produce something equal or better than their debut. Not too many groups can pull it off; add the 1990s to the long list of bands who have failed.
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Kicks is not the follow-up that "Cookies" deserved, but its handful of winning standout tracks also suggests that its predecessor wasn't simply a fluke.
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MojoKicks may take its leads from The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Orange Juice but these songs about Glasgow and girls still manage to invest the skinny-tie shuffle with some fresh contemporary verve. [Apr 2009, p.98]
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Q Magazine1990s show more ambition on the follow-up. [May 2009, p.107]
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1990s have not made a bad album, but like the decade itself Kicks never lives up to its promise and contains too many derivative and unmemorable moments.
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Under The RadarThey retain much of the glam rock frivolity and bombast of their debut, with a diaphanous bubblegum pop sheen tacked on courtesy of producer Bernard Butler. [Spring 2009, p.76]
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The riffs have gotten sharper and more jagged as the punch lines have grown duller and less imaginative. Minus his smart-alecky cheek, it's increasingly difficult for McKeown to hold your interest.
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Kicks is forgettable fare.
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The album is also horribly sequenced, pushing its best tracks down after a morass of prettier, more insipid melodies had fluffed you.
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'I Don't Even Know What Time It Is' sums up the whole record, stranded between sublime '80s guitar-pop and the more recent smarminess of Arctic Monkeys and Art Brut.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 5
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Mixed: 0 out of 5
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Negative: 1 out of 5
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Jul 3, 2012
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CarlosUMay 12, 2009Superb effort!
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RalphKApr 7, 2009