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Wit's End
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Wit's End Image
Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 13 Ratings

  • Summary: The singer-songwriter, dubbed "unobtrusively brilliant" by John Peel, releases his fifth LP.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Pitchfork
    Apr 22, 2011
    84
    So yeah, this record is a downer. But there's rare beauty in such darkness, too-- just look at forebears like Leonard Cohen, Elliott Smith, and Nick Drake. Or even Edgar Allan Poe. Because, along with its mopiness, WIT'S END is creepy as hell.
  2. Q Magazine
    May 17, 2011
    80
    Hard to get a handle, but easy to love. [May 2011, p.119]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. Drowned In Sound
    Sep 6, 2011
    80
    All of Cass McCombs' deliberate ambiguities add up to a beguiling character worth shouting about, even if he's not willing to do it himself. Give this album a spin and join its gently strident fan base.
  4. Filter
    May 16, 2011
    78
    The preambular Wit's End (hopefully he hasn't reached his) primes McCombs for the '10s with piano lamentations marking another well-paced (albeit drowsier) long-player.
  5. The New York Times
    May 2, 2011
    70
    He knows his 1970s AM-radio rock ballads, his English pastoral folk.
  6. New Musical Express (NME)
    Apr 21, 2011
    70
    No prizes for guessing who's been reading Guy Debord then, but it's these touches as well as his reverb-laden sound that makes him vaguely modern, unlike some folk artists who'd be happier pretending the 20th century never even happened.
  7. Under The Radar
    Apr 29, 2011
    40
    Unafraid of bursting your bubble, Wit's End crawls and slithers slowly, touching upon the darkest of themes.

See all 23 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Marendins
    Apr 27, 2011
    10
    Lovely and quiet album with some intricate songs. Some people will miss a few upbeat tracks, but imho they would ruin the atmosphere of theLovely and quiet album with some intricate songs. Some people will miss a few upbeat tracks, but imho they would ruin the atmosphere of the album. I'll be listening this one for a long time.… Expand
  2. Kiyoshi
    May 1, 2011
    8
    Wit's End is a great record although it doesn't hold any tracks that Catacombs did have, the tracks that jump right off the headphones to you.Wit's End is a great record although it doesn't hold any tracks that Catacombs did have, the tracks that jump right off the headphones to you. "County Line" comes close but it is certainly no "Don't Vote" or "You Saved My Life". Besides that however, McCombs has made the best record of his career and at this point, I think he's successfully proven that now with this assortment of songs, he's simply making his music and you can't really compare him to anyone else anymore. I'm not so sure that could be said before Wit's End.… Expand
  4. All_ButTrU4
    Nov 28, 2021
    7
    there's rare beauty in such darkness, too-- just look at forebears like Leonard Cohen, Elliott Smith, and Nick Drake. Or even Edgar Allan Poe.there's rare beauty in such darkness, too-- just look at forebears like Leonard Cohen, Elliott Smith, and Nick Drake. Or even Edgar Allan Poe. Because, along with its mopiness, WIT'S END is creepy as hell.… Expand

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