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Feb 16, 2016[A] sensational self-titled release. Mixing the album’s overall tone with soul, rock, electronic, and hip hop, the album has a vibe that is something close to Mike Patton’s baby Peeping Tom.
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MagnetFeb 12, 2016With each layer adding something to the stew when time on their own endeavors allowed, Nevermen is a successful and forward-thinking act of sonic maximalism. [No. 128, p.52]
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Kerrang!Feb 10, 2016Like Patton's day job, Nevermen succeed in making the world a much weirder and interesting place. [13 Feb 2016, p.54]
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Feb 9, 2016It's a cavalcade, certainly, but a thrilling one which feels like the proper realisation of Adebimpe, Drucker and Patton's quixotic talents combined.
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Jan 26, 2016The results are a timeless, genre-smashing work with a psychedelic soul.
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MojoJan 26, 2016Delightfully chewy collaboration. [Feb 2016, p.90]
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Apr 5, 2016The end result is an album that feels like a group of experienced musicians experimenting and amusing themselves without sacrificing a core thread of melody.
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Feb 1, 2016The trio trade lines like they’re flashing secret handshakes to each other--it’s a complex process, fingers flying and interlocking, each gesture laden with meanings that an outsider can’t even fathom.
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Jan 29, 2016Although largely a strong body of work, the album’s borderline moments of geniune greatness--'Hate On', 'Dark Ear' and 'Mr. Mistake', the latter of which is surely the most sonically soothing track to reference a nuclear winter--aren’t replicated with any real consistency.
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Jan 27, 2016Certain stretches of the album, such as "Hate On," could have benefitted from one or two less layers of sonic abstraction and a bit more breathing room. But the interlocking harmonies, call-and-response lead turns and unexpected acoustic riffs of "Mr Mistake" show that these weirdos can do pop on their own terms whenever they want to.
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Jan 26, 2016The trio coheres remarkably well, and the blizzard of ideas works like regular blasts of fresh oxygen or caffeine. Or both. [Jan/Feb 2016, p.58]
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Jan 26, 2016A little more focus in that department [including everyone's vocals in each song] would have gone a long way toward giving some ballast to this soupy, stormy effort. [Feb 2016, p.102]
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Jan 26, 2016In large part, the songs on Nevermen come across exactly as that: songs, specifically made in a studio by a group of individually talented musicians.
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Feb 3, 2016"Tough Towns," which salutes cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland, similarly lapses into ambient space for an extended time period, and closing track "Fame II: The Wreckoning" is nearly still for five minutes before its splashing, hopeful finale. Other than these more reflective moments, the album is generally pretty exhilarating, particularly on vicious avant-rap tracks like "At Your Service."
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Feb 1, 2016The album does have its moodier moments, Hate on--easily the best track on the album--features a strong meditative groove, oddball sax, razor-sharp guitar chords and luscious harmonies. Along with the final track, it hints at a depth that is sadly not fully explored. Nevertheless, this album is a lot of fun.
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Jan 27, 2016The album's best songs ("Tough Towns," "Fame II the Wreckoning," "Treat Em Right") temper the stream-of-consciousness and ramp up the atmosphere instead. When they resist the urge to troll (tell me a sardonic chorus that goes "Just like a tactical maniac/ I WANNA SHOOT YOUU" isn't trolling), Nevermen possess a deadly grace befitting Doseone's beloved hydra metaphor; for now, those necks are tangled.
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The WireMar 8, 2016An album remarkable only for just how bland it gets, despite every effort to the contrary. [Feb 2016, p.60]
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UncutJan 29, 2016A reliance on rabbity non-sequiters, plus a tendency to change genres every 11 seconds, makes the point of it all rather hard to grasp. [Mar 2016, p.77]
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Feb 4, 2016It all adds up to a whole that’s somehow less than the sum of its parts.