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Touchdown - Brakes [aka brakesbrakesbrakes]
Metascore
74 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
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  1. New Musical Express (NME)
    80
    There's no better soundtrack to getting by and falling in love as the world wobbles unsteadily about us.
  2. All Music Guide
    80
    A slightly more polished and accessible album than their last, showing the band tightening their reigns slightly and turning in some of their tightest, cleanest work to date.
  3. Q Magazine
    80
    Fizzing with energy and wearing its Pixies hat with pride, Touchdown is a blast of brain-scrambled indie rock that reaches its apogee, of sorts, on the irresisitibly dumb 'Hey, Hey.' [May 2009, p.119]
    All this publication's reviews
  4. Spin
    80
    These Englishmen have learned impulse control. Frontman Eamon Hamilton's playful yelp has given way to a sturdier sound.
  5. PopMatters
    80
    You'd be hard pressed to say that they didn't get it right on the first two, but Touchdown unites all that is great about countrymen Arctic Monkeys.
  6. Filter
    78
    Touchdown is the band at its best, most consistent and crowd-pleasing to date. [Spring 2009, p.106]
    All this publication's reviews
  7. Pitchfork
    77
    Although only one song passes the five-minute mark, Touchdown overflows with ideas imaginatively sifted from a range of genres, and feels honest, infectious, and personable from beginning to end.
  8. musicOMH.com
    70
    Touchdown is a concise, flab-free 35 minutes of music made by a band, which despite their collective CVs, probably wouldn't be picked out of a line-up.
  9. Prefix Magazine
    70
    There are fewer moments of reckless genre experiments on Touchdown than there were on past Brakes efforts, and when there are, they feel purposeful, like the band had some alt-country (or quick punk song) quota to fill.
  10. The A.V. Club
    67
    Oddly, the once-acerbic group is now best at being sweetly lovestruck. Now they need another facet that works as well.
  11. Under The Radar
    60
    While not bringing many surprises, it will please existing fans and win more than a few new ones. [Spring 2009, p.64]
    All this publication's reviews
  12. Uncut
    60
    Brakes, and this is not a criticism, are at their best when they do the opposite, pretending to be a nerdy indie-rock group while actually recording songs that are dumb as rocks. [May 2009, p.79]
    All this publication's reviews
  13. Alternative Press
    60
    brakesbrakesbrakes are as eclectic (musically) and clever (lyrically) as ever on their third album. [June 2009, p.98]
    All this publication's reviews
  14. Hartford Courant
    50
    The band's third full-length, Touchdown, is more of a 10-yard pass than a score.
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