Up From Below
by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
  • Record Label: Vagrant
  • Release Date: Jul 14, 2009
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 43 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 43
  3. Negative: 3 out of 43

Review this album

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. EricC
    Aug 31, 2009
    3
    Way too selfconciously cutesy and quirky to swallow without gagging. Harsh? Probably. But this is the kind of boring, formulaic indie rock that led to the derogatory term "hipster". The talent is definitely there, but when the aesthetic is this irritating, it's just impossible to enjoy this album. How the hype machine got going for these guys is beyond me. So many other bands are Way too selfconciously cutesy and quirky to swallow without gagging. Harsh? Probably. But this is the kind of boring, formulaic indie rock that led to the derogatory term "hipster". The talent is definitely there, but when the aesthetic is this irritating, it's just impossible to enjoy this album. How the hype machine got going for these guys is beyond me. So many other bands are doing this, and doing it better. And that's it.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

96
#96 Most Shared Album of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. AllMusic
    60
    Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros have crafted a love letter to Laurel Canyon and all of its quasi-mystic juju that is as infuriatingly contrived and retro as it is forward-thinking and majestic.
    Read full review
  2. Drowned In Sound
    70
    Following a good few listens, Up From Below's ebb and flow is replaced with definite peaks and troughs, leaving such highlights dulled down.
    Read full review
  3. Rolling Stone
    60
    The group's attempts to evoke Age of Aquarius utopianism are suffocated by self-consciousness; the record feels like an art-college thesis.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »