User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info

Allegiance and Conviction
by
  • Record Label:
  • Release Date:
Allegiance and Conviction Image
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

  • Summary: The first full-length release for the Michigan duo in eight years was recorded over six years.
Buy Now
Buy on
  • Record Label: Kranky
  • Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock, Post-Rock, Experimental Ambient, Space Rock
  • More Details and Credits »

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. The Wire
    Nov 6, 2020
    80
    Allegiance & Conviction is Windy & Carl’s first new album in a good long while, and it was worth the wait. [Sep 2020, p.61]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. AllMusic
    Apr 1, 2020
    80
    Expressing a wide range of emotions in a short timespan, Allegiance and Conviction is a vivid, engrossing experience, and just as vital as every other entry in Windy & Carl's unbeatable catalog.
  3. Mojo
    Apr 21, 2020
    80
    While the drum-less duo reach a wonderfully womb-like stasis amid Moth To The Flame's nine drawn-out minutes - Weber's whispers all at sea in a deep duvet of guitars - they're also unafraid to explore darker territory. [Jun 2020, p.91]
    All this publication's reviews
  4. Beats Per Minute
    Apr 1, 2020
    77
    There is an efficiency to this album as a whole, a clear sense of purpose and direction which cannot be claimed for many of their albums, which tend to wander in a beautiful haze for however long it takes.
  5. Pitchfork
    Apr 1, 2020
    72
    Though it’s as comforting as the whistle of a teapot, the music captures the feeling of storms—the atmospheric charge and churning motion—without resorting to volume or force. Being ordinary seldom seemed so wonderfully strange.
  6. Exclaim
    Apr 1, 2020
    60
    Despite its "six years in the making" descriptor, Allegiance and Conviction feels more like an EP of collected experiments toward a new, more realized work. A satisfying stop along the way to the main attraction.

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. eugene_skala
    Apr 20, 2020
    6
    In truth, the Windy & Carl's sound has always been a kind of spellwork which, in a linear fashion progresses into a kind of crystalline andIn truth, the Windy & Carl's sound has always been a kind of spellwork which, in a linear fashion progresses into a kind of crystalline and milky cathedral. Windy Weber's Nico-esque talk-singing incantations are largely inscrutable; something about an underground, not exactly velvety either. The problem is it doesn't lend any meaningful structural support; even Michael Stipe's mumbling on R.E.M.'s Murmur album were intelligent enough to serve its enigma. On Allegiance And Conviction, the effect is akin to someone talking while you're trying to read. On the other hand, it makes good (and timely) sense for the duo to evolve its ambient and cavernous space-rock drone sound into toward the conceptual, but the heavy-handedness approach here is unfortunate, especially considering Windy & Carl's otherwise remarkable and consistent catalogue.… Expand

Current Music Releases

Full List »
99 Band on the Run [50th Anniversary Edition] - Paul McCartney & Wings
95 If I don't make it, I love u - Still House Plants
95 The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow - Charles Lloyd
91 COWBOY CARTER - Beyoncé
91 The Carnegie Hall Concert - Alice Coltrane
91 Funeral for Justice - Mdou Moctar
91 Here in the Pitch - Jessica Pratt
90 Iechyd Da - Bill Ryder-Jones
90 This Could Be Texas - English Teacher
89 I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy
89 Tigers Blood - Waxahatchee
89 All Born Screaming - St. Vincent
88 What Now - Brittany Howard
88 Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
88 Hey Panda - The High Llamas
88 Orquídeas - Kali Uchis
88 The Past Is Still Alive - Hurray for the Riff Raff
87 Filthy Underneath - Nadine Shah
87 i/o - Peter Gabriel
87 Blue Lips - ScHoolboy Q
All Current Music »