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Aug 23, 201290Major comes across as the next logical chapter for one of music's most-unique and positive forces. [No.90 p.56]
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Jul 23, 201290If world leaders, corporate douche-monkeys and the 1 per cent could just hear Fang Island, there would be no war, inequality or bad vibes.
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Aug 7, 201285This is necessary listening for the carefree weeks before school picks up again in the fall, and it's a record you'll end up holding near throughout the entire semester and then some.
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Aug 22, 201280Major is likely one of the few records in 2012 to appear on best-of lists due solely to its buoyancy. [Aug/Sep 2012, p.117]
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Aug 20, 201280Warm, welcoming and dazzling. [Sep 2012, p.100]
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Jul 27, 201280'Major' is a more refined second effort, but one that still holds true to the band's promise of back-to-back hooks.
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Jul 25, 201280Major feels like the coolest church service ever, devoid of dogma and ritual, and consecrated by the unholy smack of a thousand high-fives.
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Jul 24, 201280Fang Island's message of import concerns the nature of their own chosen medium - that rock music can be fun, exciting and challenging all at the same time. This album is a powerful testament to that vision.
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Jul 24, 201279Packed with simple, poignant lyrics, the record keeps things awesome without falling prey to its own overindulgent qualities.
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Jul 24, 201275The many-splendored guitar blitz of Major rings in the return of good old-fashioned butt rock, but played to the squarely measured rhythms of '90s emo and Northwest indie stuff like Built To Spill.
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Jul 24, 201275You will not hear another album as straight-forward, unburdened by emotional distance and downright open as this one this year. And that's Major.
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Jul 25, 201270Major doesn't run at the consistently breakneck pace of Fang Island's debut, but the group rely less on near-ludicrous histrionics and more on exhibiting the joy of creation through complex and confident songwriting.
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Jul 23, 201270While Major plays up to the strengths of its predecessor, it also showcases vocal development and keeps the familiar listener guessing.
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Jul 23, 201270Not be the most inspiring stuff, perhaps, but it is bloody good fun.
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Jul 24, 201269Major's reliance on words rather than riffs doesn't quite feel as effective or unique in conveying its highness on life. It doesn't sound notably more polished or expensive than its predecessor, just more restrained.
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Jul 31, 201262Fang Island seems like a kickass live band, but sound somewhat scattered on headphones.
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Jul 31, 201260While Major has a good solid handful of inspired moments, none of this material comes close to approaching the plane as that Fang Island were operating on before.
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Jul 23, 201260Much of this record deals in warm West Coast pop, its hair-rock extensions grafted on to hazy melodies and harmonies
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Jul 30, 201250This is the main strength of Fang Island's songwriting, their ear for power-pop catchiness. But they've also implicitly revealed their fatal flaw: they don't give you enough of a sense of suspense and release which makes those climaxes your favourite parts.
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Jul 26, 201250Major moves some distance away from Fang Island's core aims, and their first record's core strengths--instead offering up a collection of tracks which do far too little, for far too long.