- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Smalltown Supersound has done fans of the band and of the modern shoegaze sound a huge favor by putting them together and putting them out, extras or no.
-
For fans of the thorny Norwegians, this release provides a welcome reminder of the group’s presence, and a valuable insight into their fragmentary beginnings.
-
Despite some of the growing pains here, Backwards strongly hints at the sadistic beauticians S-M would be introduced to us as in their debut, and bravely reveals the types of psych/shoegaze pitfalls they'd later learn to avoid.
-
Where the compilation loses itself is in its exhaustive nature. An update to the sound of older songs (albeit not much older) seems appropriate enough given how important production was to the scream and sheen of their self-titled album.
-
Under The RadarThe remastering job has done wonders for the songs, which sounded limp in their original format. Here they pop and sparkle. [Fall 2008, p.90]
-
If the group can somehow capture the more experimental and even odd edge of their different mixes, I think they might have something going. When they're just doing their thing, they simply sound like far too many other bands that are just trying to milk the legacy of the Jesus And Mary Chain a bit longer.
-
For a handful of solid pop songs, S-M Backwards adds nothing good to our conception of Serena-Maneesh, historically or otherwise. It’s a boon for the deeply interested, but it fails to make the case for its own existence.