Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 14
  2. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. You Can Have What You Want is like "Turn on the Bright Lights" (2002) without the drama, without a voice as deep or distinct as Paul Banks’, and without the hooks. Instead of all that, Papercuts opt for a vague, beige production and generally indecipherable lyrics that may or may not be about some kind of futuristic utopia/dystopia.
  2. If these songs are low-voltage wires that hum, buzz, whir, purr but rarely jolt, they yield just enough electricity to light the way forward.
  3. You Can Have What You Want falls a little short of the last record, Can't Go Back, just because it isn't as jaunty or light-hearted, but it is still an impressive work that should go a ways in providing some proof that the band has more depth and power than one might have thought if they just stuck to the surface
  4. 70
    You Can Have What You Want floats dusty folk-rock melodies in thick echo, giving the vocals an otherworldly cast.
  5. You Can Have What You Want is an insular recording, but it invites us even as it turns a shoulder toward us. And that insecurity is what makes it compelling.
  6. The album's somnolence isn't as much atmospheric as it is stultifying. The production is so thick that the songs that do work.
  7. By coloring within the lines of dream pop Quever has recorded a pleasant release but not necessarily one that goes beyond the normality of his band's moniker.
  8. It isn't new indie-rock territory, and spring is certainly an odd time to release such a puzzling (and puzzled) record, but I couldn't stop listening to it.
  9. Under The Radar
    70
    You Can Have What You Want demands the listener's utmost patience and attention before giving up its hidden treasures, but it is well worth the effort. [Spring 2009, p.67]
  10. The slow, dusky familiarity and lack of dynamics make for more of a groundhog day than transcendence into any fifth dimension.
  11. Mojo
    80
    His third album, with its surprisingly upbeat title, makes good on the escalating promise of his previous releases. [May 2009, p.110]
  12. Uncut
    80
    This is much more than the sum of its parts, and a richly rewarding listen. [May 2009, p.95]
  13. The point really, as it is with all of You Can Have What You Want, is that regardless of what era Papercuts are paying (unintentional) homage to, they always sound relevant and never out of step.
  14. The album’s less immediate than Can’t Go Back, and this is actually one of the things that makes it, in the end, probably more lastingly entertaining.

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