Leisure Seizure
by Tom Vek
  • Record Label: Downtown
  • Release Date: Oct 4, 2011
Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. PopMatters
    Sep 20, 2011
    60
    Where Wolf's songs are sometimes the victim of excess, Vek leaves one struggling to discern what ingredient his songs are missing.
  2. Spin
    Aug 24, 2011
    60
    With Leisure Seizure, Vek doesn't retool his sound much -- slabs of jittery synths underpin his urgent yelps, which start to grate over 12 tracks.
  3. cokemachineglow
    Aug 22, 2011
    48
    It's well-produced with some nice drums, but it simply has no reason to exist.
  5. Under The Radar
    Jun 24, 2011
    40
    Vek's delivery is anticlimactic and sometimes exasperating. Angular songcraft dies hard.
  6. Q Magazine
    Jun 21, 2011
    40
    Tom Vek's charm has lost its spark. [July 2011, p. 121]
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  7. Mojo
    Jun 21, 2011
    40
    Like a brand-new gadget, it might look smart but Leisure Seizure's obsolescence is built-in. [July 2011, p. 103]
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  8. Uncut
    Jun 17, 2011
    80
    His more emphatic, aggressive muse is unique and subtly disquieting. [Jul 2011, p.96]
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  9. Pitchfork
    Jun 8, 2011
    62
    Unfortunately, Vek's voice outstays its welcome by the middle of the album. Leisure Seizure is front-loaded with its best material, such that the second half of the record becomes rather tedious.
  10. No Ripcord
    Jun 8, 2011
    60
    If the past had him outcast and an outsider, Leisure Seizure could be ideally marketed with those label heavyweights like a fabric hook-and-loop fastener.
  11. Filter
    Jun 8, 2011
    74
    Dear Thomas Vernon-Kell: You wanted my thoughts, and here they are: I dig it. As I've said before, you do it just a little differently than everyone else.
  12. musicOMH.com
    Jun 6, 2011
    70
    Remember that We Have Sound was an impressive debut, but it wasn't quite the flawless diamond of popular memory. So it is with Leisure Seizure.
  13. AllMusic
    Jun 6, 2011
    80
    Vek is a self-made musician who embraces these kinds of flaws and more often than not makes them work to his advantage, and Leisure Seizure's independence and accessibility is a testament to that.
  14. Consequence
    Jun 6, 2011
    80
    How long before the next Vek release remains to be seen, but Leisure Seizure will be stuck in your head long after you quit listening.
  15. Drowned In Sound
    Jun 6, 2011
    70
    By and large, fans of We Have Sound will find a lot to love about Leisure Seizure, as Vek mostly remains true to the style he patented in 2005.
  16. The Guardian
    Jun 6, 2011
    60
    Nobody else writes songs like him. Alas, the twentysomething has a voice only a mother could truly love.
  17. BBC Music
    Jun 6, 2011
    80
    There's more than enough here to satisfy aficionados of offbeat, fiercely inventive pop music.
  18. New Musical Express (NME)
    Jun 6, 2011
    80
    Vek truly exploits the benefits of being in a one-man band: all instruments and ideas can be used as often or as sparingly as he likes; the feelings of the Mellotron and crumhorn session musicians do not need to be taken into account.
  19. Slant Magazine
    Jun 6, 2011
    80
    Like We Have Sound, Leisure Seizure feels inimitable not because of any great innovation or genius, but for the way it seemingly exists in its own perfectly contained universe.

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