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Jun 15, 2011In short, this is a powerful re-focusing of the Ladybug Transistor sound.
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Jun 15, 2011It's rare for a band to keep getting better over time, especially after 15 years, but the Ladybug Transistor have done it, and whether you've been a fan the whole time or you are just discovering (or rediscovering) them with this album, there is enough good stuff here to make even the coldest-hearted music snob admit that there is music being made in 2011 that's just as good as anything made in 1965 or 1977, or any year.
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Jun 15, 2011Clutching Stems is the band's finest record since The Albemarle Sound, and the kind of pop record that may break your heart, may even tear you apart, but it's also generous and complex enough to put you back together in the end.
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Under The RadarAug 5, 2011Fifteen years and seven albums in, The Ladybug Transistor remarkably seem to be just hitting their stride. [Jul 2011, p.86]
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Jun 15, 2011Clutching Stems is a patient, exquisitely produced indie-pop record that never quite makes eye contact.
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Jul 19, 2011Clutching Stems doesn't hit the highs some of the band's albums have, but it features some added-in coherency that quite helps the album along.
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Jul 6, 2011All in all, this is a record that anyone could have made 50 years ago, which is unfortunate because the Ladybug Transistor could and should have burrowed under the skin to say something breathless and remarkable about what it is like to lose a piece of yourself, and how to regroup in the process.
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Jul 28, 2011If you love the bands The Ladybug Transistor love it's worth a listen, but this won't be the album to propel them forwards.
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Jun 15, 2011Despite its lackluster production and a dearth of strong songs, Clutching Stems isn't quite a bust. Olson still turns in some strong tracks, which are not coincidentally the ones that sound like they would have been most at home on earlier albums.