- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Under The RadarMentor Tormentor stands as a testament to Espinoza's growth and resilience. [Summer 2007, p.73]
-
'Cold Cold Heaven,' the 15th--and last and best--track on "Mentor Tormentor is the kind of cozy hymnal Earlimart does best: a wash of strings, the major-key wail.
-
In the mesmerizing, disturbing dream that is Mentor Tormentor, Espinoza and Murray wrap their sweetly uneasy voices around misty melodies, while the deceptively sophisticated production reinforces the sense of uncertainty.
-
Mentor Tormentor is an inviting listen; it is, among other things, an advanced course in baroque pop and a warm reminder of the thriving music scene in and around their renowned namesake town.
-
Murray and co-founder Aaron Espinoza celebrate romance in tracks such as 'Answers and Questions,' but more affecting are such ruminations on vulnerability and heartbreak as the stark, propulsive 'Fakey Fake' and the electro-torchy 'Never Mind the Phone Calls.'
-
There are still bands like Earlimart, quietly chugging away in Los Angeles and preserving the West Coast sound with a spirit that's more than just curatorial, as Mentor Tormentor elegantly shows.
-
SpinBassist Ariana Murray steps up to provide sonic stability. [Sep 2007, p.129]
-
The album's midsection gets bogged down in songs that sound too similar: more lovely piano, more soft cooing, too many gimmicky studio effects.... To Espinoza's credit, he gets Mentor Tormentor back on track.
-
Mentor Tormentor is lovely in that it is a balanced album in terms of style and tone, never verging too far into the sickeningly sweet.
-
Newcomers to Earlimart will surely be lured in by Mentor Tormentor's seductive and, yes, absolutely frickin' beautiful sound, while longtime fans, depending on their expectations, will either passively embrace the familiarity or pine for some new ideas.
-
MagnetMentor Tormentor may be Earlmart's best album. But it still falls short of greatness, hamstrung by songwriting and production moves that have clearly become the band's comfort zone. [Fall 2007, p.93]
-
You'll find great boy-girl vocals, muted guitars and quiet but hooky pop.
-
Props for being candidly happier, but as is often the case with bands with ten-plus-years of solid material, Earlimart’s newest release serves us better as an unwitting PR campaign for the rest of their oeuvre.
-
These days, the group creates reasonable facsimiles of utter tedium.
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 6 out of 7
-
Mixed: 1 out of 7
-
Negative: 0 out of 7
-
RLBSep 25, 2007
-
FrankL.Sep 10, 2007
-
JCC.Aug 29, 2007A silky smooth album with obvious nods to Elliott Smith and The Posies. A welcome return.