- Critic Score
- Most active
- Publication
- Most clicked
-
Mar 7, 201390Mostly, it's the wilting pedal steel, warm analog tubes, and lush heartbreak flourishes of "When I'm Gone" that distinguish Rose from the merchants of new country's jingles.
-
Feb 20, 201390The Stand-In has everything that made its predecessor special--big voice, expertly crafted tunes, clever backings, a deft mix of stridency and restraint--but is definitely a step up.
-
Feb 20, 201385While it manifests in a way that’s less playful than on her debut, it’s replaced by a gravitas that befits a sophomore record.
-
Mar 15, 201380It's all gorgeous arrangements, soul-wrenching songwriting and heartbreaking stories, inhabiting a space that's both rock and country, indie and folk, without pandering to the lowest common denominator. [No. 96, p.59]
-
Mar 13, 201380It’s not so easily classifiable as “country,” but easily classifiable as really great pop music.
-
Mar 8, 201380With an album as consistently strong as The Stand-In at this early stage, she has an impressive career ahead.
-
Mar 7, 201380Most of the tracks could be singles, successfully marrying a pop sensibility to country twang without sacrificing the best aspects of either approach.
-
Mar 5, 201380Rose isn't trying to be all traditional country here, or even all straight pop either, but somehow she effortlessly melts the two together, and this set is definitely a winner, full of solid playing and, of course, Rose's easy and comfortingly wise vocals.
-
Feb 26, 201380The stories Rose tells are as fresh as wet ink.
-
Feb 25, 201380Though some of the good-girl-gone-bad shtick has been sacrificed on the altar of go-for-it jangly pop, she's still as good as it gets when she finally opens her pipes on "Dallas".
-
Feb 22, 201380This follow-up builds on the feisty freshness of Caitlin Rose's Own Side Now, her debut from 2010.
-
Feb 22, 201380Those who were endeared by Rose’s debut may be surprised, hopefully pleasantly, by the change in tone and attitude shown on The Stand-In. Nevertheless, it is a delightful record.
-
Feb 21, 201380A smidgeon of Rose's old spikiness is sacrificed, but it's easily a fair swap for songs bulging with terrific hooks and killer choruses, all of which belie some melancholy content.
-
Feb 20, 201380Mainly, though, if Caitlin Rose is the future of Nashville and American country music, then it would seem that its future is in safe, appealing and mellifluous hands.
-
Mar 12, 201371It’s an easy listen with difficult layers, and if Rose quickly secured her status as a top young voice in country music a few years ago, she’s now cemented her position as an important one.
-
Mar 21, 201370The Stand-In is a gorgeous-sounding chronicle of such archetypal props, characters, and sounds, though the conceit does occasionally smother their narrator’s natural, vital wit.
-
Mar 21, 201370She has a tone that melds well with silky background vocals and just enough pedal steel.
-
Feb 22, 201370The trick is that, while you know that she's stretching, she never sounds anything less than completely comfortable and in total control.
-
Feb 20, 201370Despite this run of two poor(ish) songs, the album is largely excellent--a record bridging the gap between country music and popular music’s less derided genres perfectly.
-
Mar 12, 201360The Stand-In succeeds in sounding expansive without losing any of its intimacy. [Apr 2013, p.109]
-
Feb 20, 201360A logical next step then, which stays the right side of MOR. [Mar 2013, p.96]
-
Mar 13, 201350There's no question that The Stand-In is a step-up from her previous effort; her delivery and songwriting show a confidence that previously lacking. However, The Stand-In is no stand out.