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Oct 14, 2013Perhaps the Avetts are best when they run a little bit loose and ragged, letting the tempos push a little bit hard, allowing their harmonies to clash and happy to have their loose ends remain untied. Often, this means that the ballads are just a shade too tidy.
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Oct 31, 2013Magpie is chock full of tracks that show the Avett Brothers are (very wisely) growing their sound, while remaining true to their core principles and what listeners like about them to begin with.
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Oct 28, 2013The Avett Brothers have established a singular style. And with it, a well-deserved reputation that assures their place among the best of the breed.
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Oct 17, 2013With just a little more time and some soul-searching, maybe the Avett Brothers can better incorporate the pop and solidify their newfound voice.
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Entertainment WeeklyOct 18, 2013When the band turns from evocative imagery to lyrics that just feel confusingly circuitous, Magpie loses its footing. [18 Oct 2013, p.65]
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Oct 14, 2013The 11 tracks on Magpie and the Dandelion were recorded during the same Rick Rubin-produced sessions, and now stand as a well-timed response to those that found The Carpenter too weighty for its own good.
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MagnetNov 27, 2013The Avett Brothers are thankfully more interested in contemporary relevance than lockstep allegiance to dusty history. [No. 104, p.52]
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MojoDec 18, 2013Filled with tearful ballads and ragged-trousered country, the Avetts' playing may not be the most technically accomplished but the feel they bring to Never Been Alive and Another Is Waiting is alone worth wading through their previously misfiring albums. [Jan 2014, p.96]
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Oct 15, 2013It’s a solid record that showcases all of The Avett Brothers’ talents and captures them, as well as their songwriting, in an interesting emotional place on their journey further down the road.
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Oct 18, 2013It’s a decent bunch of leftovers and will likely appeal to Avetts dreamers who prefer the brothers serene and misty-eyed. For everyone else, Magpie and the Dandelion is competently played, handsomely arranged, and fairly boring.
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Oct 16, 2013But for the most part, Magpie provides us with another bundle of easygoing tunes from a band that seems to have a limitless supply.
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Q MagazineJan 7, 2014Not quite as organic as they seem, their perfection lacks taste despite its polish. [Jan 2014, p.117]
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Oct 15, 2013More hard-bitten and somberly reflective, Magpie exposes lyrics that tilt into hokey romanticism. But the craft is automatic.
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Oct 14, 2013Too many edges have been sanded off the brothers' music, and whether the blame lies with Rubin's influence or the accelerated writing pace, the result is an album devoid of the band's usual charming lyrics and adroit melodies.
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Oct 15, 2013These songs are nice and they’re pretty, but have no bite, no substance, and no real pizzazz.
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Nov 21, 2013Their recognition of pop's ability to articulate its listeners' feelings, boost morale and offer guidance is the best and worst thing about them: they come across as honest and unaffected, but also self-regarding in their homespun wisdom, and far too quick with a cliche.
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Nov 25, 2013There are too many plodding ballads, sentimental on the piano and heavy on the cymbals.
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Nov 14, 2013North Carolina's Avett Brothers have filled Magpie and the Dandelion with taut, unaffected verses that dredge the past, weigh damage against possibility, and seek emergence through selflessness and emotional responsibility.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 9 out of 13
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Mixed: 4 out of 13
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Negative: 0 out of 13
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Oct 18, 2013
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Oct 15, 2013