Critic Reviews
| 92 |
Filter
That this album eviscerates the armies of shoegazer-come-latelies is a trifiling accomplishment compared to the fact that for 74 minutes--with an overall tone of foreboding bordering on the haunting and disturbing--this album is impossible to turn off. [Spring 2008, p.92]
|
| 80 |
All Music Guide
Hellbent on pushing the envelope, Newcombe shines as a prolific madman once again and as recycled as the ideas are, My Bloody Underground is a fantastic new direction and a forward thinking album that indicates that however combustible, there is a lot more life left in BJM, in any incarnation.
|
| 80 |
Drowned In Sound
As pastiche, this all makes for a fragmented and cumbersome back-to-back listening experience - utterly dominated by wild mood swings. But with so many independently functioning songs on offer, certain suites of two or three become hands down irresistible.
|
| 68 |
Lost At Sea
Although the vast majority of the record stays consistent, as on just about every Brian Jonestown Massacre record Newcombe always finds a way (or must resort to, depending on how you see it) to throw in a few buckets of filler.
|
| 60 |
Observer Music Monthly
World-weary and introspective, frequently discordant, this is the sound of a man pondering where it all went wrong.
|
| 50 |
Spin
My Bloody Underground emphasizes the band's trippy side, often at the expense of Newcombe's undervalued tunecraft. [May 2008, p.96]
|
| 40 |
Under The Radar
This must be what they call a bad trip. [Spring 2008, p.74]
|
| 40 |
Uncut
My Bloody Underground is the sound of someone geting My Bloody Valentine about two-thirds right, which is to say that while BJM can certainly conjure interminable, feedback-slathered drones, they lack Kevin Shields' gift for sonic invention or melody. [June 2008, p.83]
|
| 40 |
Q Magazine
His band's 13th album won't bring him the stardom he craves, consisting of amorphous drones in which the creative energy has been reserved for the titles. [May 2008, p.126]
|
| 40 |
Tiny Mix Tapes
Where Newcombe’s music once sounded fresh and lively, his political message both controversial and effectual, on My Bloody Underground his music is neither fascinating nor engaging.
|
| 26 |
Pitchfork
More so than the album's overall malaise and inconsistency, it's this ridiculous (and in some cases, offensive) attempt at "edginess" that's most off-putting.
|
| 20 |
PopMatters
My Bloody Underground is by far the most vapid, drawn-out, and uninspired addition to their discography.
|
| 20 |
NOW Magazine
Everything on My Bloody Underground suffers from Newcombe’s chronic lack of focus, leaving the entire mess sounding like half-assed sonic sketches farted out in a friend’s basement over a woozy weekend.
|
|
