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Sep 9, 2016Truthfully, every song is a goodie, except “Sense”, which is a minute of breathing room which won’t kill you to listen to.
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Sep 16, 2016Preoccupations is a tough, black and resilient modern rock album.
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Sep 9, 2016The truth is, it is both cultured Tibetan Singing Bowls and DIY damp finger on wine glass and all the richer for it.
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Nov 10, 2016With their sophomore release, Preoccupations offers a multilayered synthesis of some of the finer moments of rock music’s past, a potent coalescence of disparate sources into a memorable and standout project--creatively navigating the relationship between derivation and originality.
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Oct 4, 2016Preoccupations is a more coherent, more accessible set of songs that proves this band doesn't need an edgy name to attract the attention they deserve.
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Sep 22, 2016Preoccupations works with a richer emotional palette.
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Sep 15, 2016Their second record hits harder, digs deeper and lingers longer than that promising debut, and keeping all eyes on their art proves to be the best statement Preoccupations could ever have offered.
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Sep 15, 2016Preoccupations makes strides to shore up Preoccupations’ identity without losing the crucial spontaneity of their debut.
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Sep 14, 2016The band transcend their obvious influences: the recording is far heavier and denser than anything they're referencing, the songs more abstract and feral, the vocals surging with an unknowable American passion that sets them apart from their Brit influence.
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Sep 13, 2016There is a stout cohesiveness that gives Preoccupations a feeling of completion and resolute artistic confidence and its reverberations mount with close and repeated listens.
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UncutSep 9, 2016The songs benefit from a sharper focus than the quartet ever achieved before. [Oct 2016, p.37]
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Sep 9, 2016It doesn’t present cookie-cutter visions of fear and insecurity to observe from afar; it crawls under your skin and drags them out to you--whether you want it to or not.
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Sep 19, 2016There’s a tense, nervous energy running through all the tracks, which connect to each other like wires that spark electrical currents when they meet.
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Sep 13, 2016Preoccupations does away with the murkiness, sounding remarkably clear in contrast to its predecessor.
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Sep 20, 2016Preoccupations is a strong follow-up to an excellent debut record. It showcases a band that is evolving and finding new ways to stretch out their sound.
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Sep 14, 2016Preoccupations are steadying their footing here, both growing up and grounding themselves sonically.
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Sep 9, 2016Preoccupations, by design, neither grips nor pays off with the same level of gleeful improvisational intensity [as 2015's Viet Cong].
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Oct 7, 2016Overall, the album isn't a bad listen. Symphonic. Orchestral. But compared to the last outing, it's lacking.
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Q MagazineSep 23, 2016Despite some strong material, the relentless gloom gets a little wearing well before the end. [Nov 2016, p.113]
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Sep 14, 2016Preoccupations don't fully hit their stride until album closer Fever, which sounds a bit like Heroes-era Bowie without coming across as derivative.
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Sep 15, 2016It may be more accomplished and accessible than its forebear, yet it mostly comes across as a tad inconsequential, running through one nice song to the next without ever really being anything more than “nice.”
User score distribution:
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Positive: 32 out of 36
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Mixed: 2 out of 36
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Negative: 2 out of 36
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Sep 23, 2016
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May 11, 2020
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Apr 19, 2018I really love this album. It has great songs, an amazing voice, and hits. A great album that will not disappoint anyone.