- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Upper Air is a decent enough record, but it’s not strong enough to be listened to without recalling other, similar but better records.
-
Very, very few people have something clever to say and the musical ability to put it into song. That leaves us with ten pleasant songs about nothing much in particular, sung by vocalists of middling charisma.
-
Q MagazineThis record is like a pale version of their biggest fan in its shoe-shuffling awkwardness, and though each track sounds far too timid for single release, that is perhaps Upper Air's defining charm. [Aug 2009, p.103]
-
Upper Air does have its ethereal moments; mostly, though, its earnestness keeps it prosaically earthbound.
-
Bowerbirds continue to show great potential, with some truly beautiful music along the way, but Upper Air’s most interesting tracks ('Bright Future' and 'Crooked Lust') are the ones that deviate from their core sound.
-
Under The RadarThe come off as Decemberists-light, and never find a spark. [Summer 2009, p.60]