- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Under The RadarWhat the band does best is still straight-ahead pop-rock. [#13, p.97]
-
Admittedly, the whiny Martsch-inspired delivery of singer dude Christian Hjelm will be a turnoff for some, but the Figurines' compositional skill shows real promise, and their endearing enthusiasm should win them many fans over here.
-
It's a feat the band manages to pull off again and again, track after track, over the course of Skeleton, and the true heart of the record: making the familiar seem fresh and giddy pop seem like indie manna.
-
Ultimately, something about this album feels a bit slight.
-
The New York TimesFigurines don't have lyrics as rewarding as those of their obvious polestars, but "Skeleton" puts an intriguingly genteel spin on indie grit. [27 Mar 2006]
-
The stuff indie-rock fantasies are built on, with a gripping, theatrical sound that's like a hybrid of early Built To Spill and pre-Soft Bulletin Flaming Lips, adorned with pieces of the old Neil Young albums that inspired those bands in the first place.
-
Forget the hype now; when they made this last summer, without hype, without de-habilitating expectation, they may just have created the finest indie-rock album of the year.
-
Though some of the production is a bit too reminiscent of 1990s indie rock, the songs are strong enough and the attitude addictive enough to position Figurines as more than an also-ran.
-
MagnetMost of Skeleton is an endless rush, sounding like up-tempo versions of the Pixies' surf-rock choruses. [#71, p.93]
-
SpinThe racing tempos and Christian Hjelm's paranoid-sounding yelp push the songs to occasionally exhilarating heights, but beware the inevitable comedown. [Aug 2006, p.78]
-
Although an amateur sound bleeds through all the songs on Skeleton it is obvious that this group of Danes take themselves seriously. It is that seriousness that makes this album so enjoyable, as it affords the band a certain degree of confidence in their quirkiness.
-
It has sunshine in its music that isn't clichéd, a range of songs that never let the progression slow down or stagnate, and an array of emotional explorations that are refreshing and accomplished.
-
If you ever enjoyed the accessible moments of long-standing US indie-pop acts such as Modest Mouse or Built To Spill, but longed for them to stop with the eight-minute wig-outs, Skeleton is probably the album you’ve been waiting for; from Denmark via America.
-
The frame is there, there's just not enough meat on the muscles of their Euro-jitter-pop.
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 7 out of 8
-
Mixed: 0 out of 8
-
Negative: 1 out of 8
-
AdamDJul 30, 2006Snappy...clappy but not too chappy
-
AlLMay 19, 2006