These Were The Earlies
by The Earlies
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. Pitchfork
    79
    A deliriously ambitious record packed with neo-psych lullabies and swooning choruses.
  2. cokemachineglow
    79
    The album still holds together with a surprising cohesiveness, which is essential when crafting a debut that relies far more on the effect of its ambitious whole than any specific genre-bending tracks.
  3. Drowned In Sound
    80
    The Earlies are like a stripped-down take on the [Flaming] Lips: psychedelic, lo-fi and indie in the purest sense of the word.
  5. Playlouder
    70
    As a headphone album, 'These Were... The Earlies' is something of a stunner.
  6. ShakingThrough.net
    68
    It's not half-bad, providing you can get over the fact that the Earlies have yet to find a sound to call their own.
  7. Austin Chronicle
    89
    The disc alternates between unsettling, exhilarating, and devastating in its emotional impact; it's also difficult not to get distracted by everything going on musically.
  8. Neumu.net
    80
    What's impressive is the way they bring all these elements together, the natural world leading seamlessly into a brighter landscape of surreal otherness.
  9. PopMatters
    70
    Imagin[e] the Beach Boys getting strung out in a field on cider midmorning in some alternative universe Texas, surrounded by retro-sounding DIY synths, a raggedy brass section, and a hippy cello player.
  10. New Musical Express (NME)
    100
    This music is the electronic, Warp-inspired answer to Brian Wilson's 'Smile.' [31 Jul 2004, p.41]
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  11. Under The Radar
    90
    An astoundingly accomplished collection of flawlessly interesting and compulsively beautiful songs. [#8, p.109]
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  12. Stylus Magazine
    70
    A set of saccharine sweet songs which occasionally dissolve spectacularly in a haze of whirring electronic mist.
  13. Uncut
    90
    An outstanding record which you'd be unwise to miss. [Aug 2004, p.91]
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  14. Mojo
    80
    A band who aim foolishly high but always return, wings intact. [Sep 2004, p.92]
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  15. Q Magazine
    80
    A work of baroque detail, crossing between Mercury Rev's psychedelic Americana and The Beta Band's bucolic electronica. [Aug 2004, p.110]
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  16. Dusted Magazine
    80
    Given that it’s a collection of EPs and singles, These Were the Earlies is predictably all over the map, a problem exacerbated by the Earlies’ wide-ranging stylistic ambitions and long-distance collaborative methods.

Awards & Rankings

32
#32 Best Album of 2005

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. AlexA
    Jan 26, 2007
    5
    Boring and pretentious.
  2. JimO'Rourke
    Jan 26, 2006
    5
    Really pretentious and utterly forgettable, aside from 2 songs.
  3. LawlessR
    Jan 25, 2006
    6
    some songs have promise, but most of it is damn boring.
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