Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 24
  2. Negative: 1 out of 24
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  1. The record is a jukebox boiled down to its greatest hits, a playground romp through the back-pages of pop music history, and in this case, the journey is well worth taking.
  2. Jan 25, 2013
    90
    In the end, however, the album's coherence comes in its incredible architecture of all these ideas, and the way the band sells them with everything they've got, taking what could be incredibly obtuse music back into the realm of pop from which it was born.
  3. Mar 13, 2013
    67
    Every subtlety comes steeped in retro classicism.
  4. Jan 22, 2013
    70
    For many listeners, Foxygen's influences will sound tired. But as they plunder the past, they're enjoying themselves, and the enthusiasm on this messy collection of songs is infectious.
  5. Jan 22, 2013
    85
    We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic delivers on the promise of Foxygen's previous material in almost every way possible, offering up full and complete songs filled with bright instrumentation and enough surprising songwriting turns to get lost in, but there's also a strong personality at its core bursting with a vibrancy that carries these songs beyond their specific musical waypoints and influences into a uniquely modern setting.
  6. Jan 24, 2013
    80
    Foxygen is never overpowered by its influences.
  7. Jan 22, 2013
    70
    For a band that just started writing pop songs, this sophomore LP is an impressive outing.
  8. Jan 22, 2013
    80
    We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace And Magic is a great full-length debut that is far more than a nostalgia trip.
  9. Jan 22, 2013
    70
    These songs don't linger too long, and the album--with its 36-minute runtime--feels efficient and complete.
  10. Feb 15, 2013
    78
    This unpredictable first effort is a stirring paean to the golden age of rock.
  11. Mojo
    Feb 6, 2013
    80
    Playfully eccentric, it pushes the boundaries of the psych-pop revival in a way that's thankfully more redolent of MGMT's Congratulations than Ariel Pink's more self-conscious "mature" themes. [Mar 2013, p.88]
  12. Feb 1, 2013
    70
    Despite the strength of this first offering, you can’t help but feel Foxygen haven’t quite reached their full potential.
  13. 80
    Peace & Magic marks the duo out as genuine oddities, music makers full of irreverence, wit, silliness, wild experimentalism, genuine musical brilliance and weirdness.
  14. Jan 22, 2013
    82
    While the more unhinged moments tend to overshadow sugary, buttery pop songs like "No Destruction" (even with the delicious jab: "There's no need to be an asshole / You're not in Brooklyn anymore"), the softer moments balance out the record's tidy nine tracks.
  15. Jan 22, 2013
    84
    The more time you spend with Ambassadors, the more clearly that commitment and joy comes through.
  16. Jan 29, 2013
    70
    It's sugar-rush shambolic, somewhat shallow, it won't change your life and pours nothing new into the Cauldron Du Rock. But it's also an entertaining riot of gleeful joy and youthful energy.
  17. 83
    With We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic, Foxygen is a breath of fresh air, reviving a vintage style of songwriting in a new and creative fashion.
  18. 80
    The more intelligible lyrics and mid-fi production keep things entertaining and give it the feeling of a fully fleshed-out work.
  19. Feb 15, 2013
    80
    It’s a rewarding mixture of romance, wit and fantasy.
  20. 65
    Just as it really gets going and starts shining, it splutters and finishes, leaving a sort of empty feeling.
  21. Jan 22, 2013
    80
    It's a bit frantic, but always spot-on; the band nails each retro style closely, and yet manages to channel them all into one new vision that's wholly Foxygen.
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 60 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 60
  2. Negative: 0 out of 60
  1. Sep 14, 2013
    7
    Foxygen make music that could have been at woodstock. I like psychedelic music with pop sensibilities then you will enjoy this, I do, and IFoxygen make music that could have been at woodstock. I like psychedelic music with pop sensibilities then you will enjoy this, I do, and I did. The album evokes images of a sunset flower-strewn stage with everybody having a whale of a time, probably under the influence. Full Review »
  2. Aug 16, 2015
    9
    A hazy, drugged-out psych-pop album of monstrous proportions. In it's confidence, however, it never manages to take itself seriously to theA hazy, drugged-out psych-pop album of monstrous proportions. In it's confidence, however, it never manages to take itself seriously to the point of self-indulgence. Instead, it just toes the line. 8.8/10 Full Review »
  3. Dec 28, 2013
    6
    Strictly by its own merits, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic is not a bad album. In fact it is quite decent, as tracksStrictly by its own merits, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic is not a bad album. In fact it is quite decent, as tracks like "San Francisco", "No Destruction", and "On Blue Mountain" are very entertaining and unique in the modern music landscape, even if the rest of the album gets a bit too close to fellow psychedelic rockers, Tame Impala. However, after listening to their earlier work on Take the Kids Off Broadway, I have to say this album is a great disappointment. That previous album had been nothing short of a grand masterpiece, and rather than expand on its ideas, Foxygen decided to abandon its wild experimentation for far too tame tracks that are inside the box rather than out of it. Therefore, while this album is not bad, I know they can do much better. Full Review »