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- Summary: This is the first of two releases in 2011 for the San Francisco indie rock band led by John Dwyer.
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- Record Label: In the Red Records
- Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
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Score distribution:
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Positive: 14 out of 16
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Mixed: 2 out of 16
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Negative: 0 out of 16
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Jun 13, 2011While it's technically another hack-and-slash assault on the senses that scorches the garage rock's hallowed ground, the album manages to find a fresh detour for the group to stagger down.
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Jun 27, 2011Despite the moments where you feel like you're having a bad trip, there's a deranged brilliance on Castlemania that's difficult to ignore.
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UncutJul 28, 2011This time they've come armed with an acoustic guitar to counterpoint their love of reverb--something that works well with their generally playful attitude. [Aug 2011, p.100]
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Jun 13, 2011It's the band's most fractured album to date, folding art-garage conventions into themselves instead of working them into song structures.
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Aug 10, 2011Holing up by himself, worrying about money, obsessing with death and letting the walls close in is probably not good for Dwyer as a human being, but it's certainly good for Castlemania.
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Jun 13, 2011Castlemania does sound like the product of several happily productive days in this band's life; this album sounds less sinister and more playful than the bulk of their previous output, and if a lot of this is still going to seem chaotic and off-putting to anyone not flying a similar freak flag, it's an easier way in to Thee Oh Sees' curious musical world than any of their albums to date.
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Jun 22, 2011If you can be persuaded to root around for long enough you might occasionally bump into the odd moment that made Thee Oh Sees' brilliant Help album of 2009, or 2010's lopsided Warm Slime, so enjoyable – slapdash songwriting, slovenly hooks and prurient flights of fancy.
Score distribution:
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Positive: 0 out of
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Mixed: 0 out of
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Negative: 0 out of