| 90 |
Ink Blot Magazine
It's not quite as immediate as, say, the Champion Versions EP, but 10 plays bear out the truth: this is the best Beta Band record yet, which means you should waste no time getting your hands on it.
|
| 90 |
Launch.com
Celebrating nonsense and good sense, Beta Band make music from junk and found sounds, their quirky combo of serendipity and sample skills paying off in spades.
|
| 88 |
Spin Cycle
The quartet has cooled its eclectic babbling, and "Hot Shots II" whirrs and purrs like a gleeming silver sports car.
|
| 83 |
Entertainment Weekly
On Hot Shots II, they finally veer back on track, albeit in their own charmingly wobbly way. [20 Jul 2001, p.66]
|
| 80 |
Almost Cool
The group shows that their goofy sides can peacefully coexist with their harmonious, pop-song writing ones.
|
| 80 |
Magnet
Unlike its predecessor's quirky pop stance, Hot Shots is defiantly, mindbendingly progadelic -- suitable for controlled-substance consumption galore. [#51, p.85]
|
| 80 |
New Musical Express
'Hot Shots II' is a dizzy, magical voyage of self-discovery - concise where its predecessor was unfocused, immediate where the pop urge was once lacking.
|
| 80 |
Q Magazine
It's a stride towards true excellence. Although likely to remain a cult item, The Beta Band are now easier to embrace than ever, less pastoral and more direc, courtesy of a clear, sharp, intensely rhythmic new sound... [#180, p.97]
|
| 80 |
Dot Music
The result is largely the mature second album that we were hoping for with Steve Mason's magical way with a tune still proving capable of injecting an awe-inspiring and yet indefinable emotional resonance to everything he touches.
|
| 75 |
E! Online
The overall psychedelic mood works wonders for any self-respecting fan of the Beach Boys and David Bowie.
|
| 70 |
Playlouder
One of the most distinctive and satisfying records you'll hear all summer.
|
| 70 |
CDNow
The Beta Band evokes the lushness of '60s AM popsters the Association in its soft vocal ensembles while demonstrating an instrumental prowess ("Eclipse") that recollects the lo-fi sonic buzz of Flying Saucer Attack.
|
| 70 |
Sonicnet
This maturing band is getting closer to a fully realized vision.
|
| 70 |
Mojo
The key problem lies in the album's occasional sense of underachieving drift. [Aug 2001, p.104]
|
| 70 |
Spin
It's hard to find a heart beneath the haze.... [Aug 2001, p.129]
|
| 70 |
HOB.com
There are times when a few rough edges might make these songs more compelling.
|
| 70 |
Alternative Press
Hot Shots II recalls the repetitive excellence of 1998's The Three E.P.'s, with still more chant-like repetition and scarcely a change... [Aug 2001, p.76]
|
| 70 |
Billboard
Its most fully realized set to date.
|
| 60 |
Rolling Stone
Hot Shots II does its best to return to the epic soundscapes of The Three E.P.'s; the long grooves and easy melodies are back, and the band's tendency toward the diffuse has been reined in.
|
| 60 |
Splendid
It's good stuff, to be sure -- but if Hot Shots II excites you at all, it's probably time to lay off the pot.
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