User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info

The New Life
by
The New Life Image
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6 Ratings

  • Summary: The second full-length release for the Belfast band sees the addition of Philip Quinn to the group.
Buy Now
Buy on

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Drowned In Sound
    Feb 26, 2013
    90
    If Cathal Cully's aim was to leave the past behind then he's succeeded resoundingly, and created one of this year's most ungainly beautiful records in the process.
  2. Q Magazine
    Mar 12, 2013
    80
    It's a minor-chord menace, their darker surf-steeped vibe driven by steady percussion and hypnotic basslines. [Apr 2013, p.101]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. Exclaim
    Dec 31, 2013
    80
    The overall tempo has slowed, allowing for more instrumental variation and a chance for the band to explore the new musical terrain (which they thoroughly do).
  4. Beats Per Minute
    Mar 18, 2013
    79
    Girls Names does not dwell on the dourness, but conquers and transforms it into a solace--a sound resulting from some hallucinatory fever like a Max Ernst painting, realizing the shadowy dimension parallel to this existence.
  5. Under The Radar
    Mar 8, 2013
    75
    The New Life is a fully-formed long player that yields rewards over time, not just 50 minutes.
  6. Paste Magazine
    Mar 5, 2013
    73
    What the band is doing is creating a unique template of dark, post-punk, garage-y rock, often controlled and sometimes unleashed, that marks The New Life as one of the better albums released so far this year.
  7. The Line of Best Fit
    Feb 20, 2013
    50
    Moody. Loveless. One-paced. Monotonous. Dull.

See all 14 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of
  2. Mixed: 0 out of
  3. Negative: 0 out of