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Apr 28, 2011It's not that All at Once isn't a likable record; it just seems rather scattershot, and none of it captures the hard-hitting intensity of their debut's best cuts.
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Apr 27, 2011ATE doesn't shy away from their debts to the Killers and the Strokes, they brandish their influences so brazenly the echoes reverberate upon themselves and turn into something not quite their own but not quite recycled: it's insistent mood pop designed for its moment, getting enough momentum from its bounce and melody to be something of a pleasure.
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Alternative PressApr 21, 2011The hue of the proceedings feels significantly dialed-down and stark and the result feels more like a Jollett solo album and less like a great band flexing its myriad abilities. [May 2011, p.92]
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Apr 28, 2011It's clear that All at Once is a record of big sounds, bigger themes and enormous – and entirely achieved – ambitions. A crushing classic.
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Apr 29, 2011Jollett and company do it one more time, most definitely with feeling.
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Apr 22, 2011The Airborne Toxic Event can hold their heads high safe in the knowledge their supposedly difficult second album is a resolute triumph in the face of adversity.
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Entertainment WeeklyApr 29, 2011Jollett funnels his anger] into histrionic modern-rock jams laced with folky sensitivity. [6 May 2011, p.74]
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Apr 26, 2011Until then, Jollett will have to make do with the brass ring he's holding on to with all his fortitude; everyone else can just come along for the ride.
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MojoMay 16, 2011The blue-collar earnestness is still served in large dollops, but there;s a sense of over-reach about the whole thing. [May 2011, p.100]
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Apr 22, 2011Shocker! The long-awaited (it says here) follow-up to a sublimely average debut is another half-arsed muppet show executed with the charisma of a terminally ill sloth.
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Apr 27, 2011The lyrics explode with angst, music fills the scenes with detail, and the answers all raise questions.
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Jun 2, 2011All at Once is every bit as self-important as its predecessor, but its anxieties can sometimes feel rote and stretched beyond recognition.
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Q MagazineMay 16, 2011Jollett's weighty musing are all but neutered by his determination to cover all musical bases but, as an alt-rock starter-kit, it's just about perfect. [May 2011, p.109]
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Apr 29, 2011You root for the good intentions and enjoy the glints of sunlight from singer/viola player Anna Bulbrook. But portentous verses thud like birds against fuselage.
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Apr 22, 2011Although frontman Mikel Jollet still falls on life's thorns, the band's second album supports his weighty themes with more instrumental muscle.
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Apr 22, 2011All At Once and Numb are instant, stadium-size anthems, and when the band sound as if they're trying to cover too many bases at once, Jollett's enthusiasm for a killer chorus and a good, dramatic yarn sees him home.
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Apr 22, 2011Overall, it treads an uncertain line between bombast and sensitivity.
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UncutMay 13, 2011Sickly aspiring novelist turned singer-songwriter Mikel Jollett can knock out a powerful anthem, but his relentless yearning choruses and chiming guitar harmonies ring rather hollow as signifiers of emotion. [Jun 2011, p.77]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 12 out of 17
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Mixed: 3 out of 17
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Negative: 2 out of 17
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Sep 18, 2011
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Jul 14, 2011
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Jun 3, 2011