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- Critic score
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- By date
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Oct 25, 2012Wolf is as honest and, in a greater sense, as generous a songwriter as we have, and Mumps, Etc. may be his finest gift yet.
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Oct 5, 2012Mumps takes a little while to sink in in a different way to previous albums.
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Oct 8, 2012WHY? have always been an acquired taste but anyone with a shred of interest in Yoni Wolf's idiosyncratic talents will find much to savour on a very impressive return.
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Oct 5, 2012Mumps, etc. simultaneously feels like a fresh start and consolidation for the band; it encapsulates what makes them so unique while subtly expanding and pushing forward their sound, and as such must be viewed a real triumph.
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Oct 17, 2012It's disjointed, but somehow held together by Wolf's honestly and sometimes-brilliant turns of phrases.
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MagnetOct 10, 2012Crisper and cleaner than any previous Why? musing, Mumps Etc. is chamber hop for people who buy every remastered reissue of Pet Sounds. [No. 92, p.60]
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Oct 8, 2012It critically casts an eye over Wolf's public persona.
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Oct 23, 2012For many reasons it is confused, self-absorbed, remarkably gauche. It is so often an intentionally uncomfortable thing to listen to... [yet] intriguing.
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Oct 5, 2012Mumps, Etc. is an assured, thematically united set.
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Oct 9, 2012Metaphors are short-lived and abstract, and Wolf spends lots of time philosophizing or generalizing.
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Oct 17, 2012While we often expect clarity of thought from our favourite lyricists, Wolf's admission that he doesn't hold all the answers makes these songs all the more relatable and poignant.
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Oct 5, 2012Mumps, etc. misses out on the engrossing atmospheres the last two albums had, and its best track, "Sod in the Seed," is a holdover from the recent EP of the same name, but there's enough here to more than make up for their last few years of radio silence.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 15 out of 19
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Mixed: 3 out of 19
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Negative: 1 out of 19
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Oct 9, 2012
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Oct 9, 2012
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Nov 6, 2012