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One knock-on effect of going professional is that you can now hear the music clearly and properly, and it turns out that Mr. Williams isn't exactly a Mozart in the songwriting stakes.
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UncutHalf of these tracks are superfluous, but the other half are mixtape gold. [Sep 2010, p.108]
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Williams's record is brisk, clocking in under 40 minutes. But it takes far more risks, dabbling in Animal Collective–ish psych pastiche on "Baseball Cards," Kurt Fauxbain dummy posturing on the riotous "Idiot," and Phil Spector homage not once but twice-on the magical "Da Doo Run Run"–lifting "Mickey Mouse" and, less impressively, with a rip of the "Be My Baby" beat on "When Will You Come."
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Perhaps another period spent in oblivion is just what Williams needs to figure out his next move, or rather, his next image.
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King of the Beach isn't the work of a seven-stone weakling getting sand kicked in his face; it's supple and muscular garage-pop.
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Under The RadarAfter the monochromatic haze of his first few efforts, Williams flirts with nuance here, writing songs that go beyond three chords and a cloud of fuzz box dust. [Summer 2010, p.81]
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Q MagazineDespite this concession to orthodoxy [recording in a real music studio], King Of The Beach retains much of his summery charm, the sun-kissed pop-punk choruses concealing lyrics seething with self-loathing, alongside slices of blissed-out pop in style of labelmates Beach House. [Sep 2010, p.123]
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As a comeback album following one of the decade's most memorable flameouts, it reaches all expectations adequately. But considering the late musician you're obviously modeled after (and more disappointingly, the Hella-inspired track to which this album seems to forget ever existed), King of the Beach feels more like an expertly timed marketing ploy.
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Listeners looking for a long-term relationship are advised to look elsewhere or lower their expectations for love.
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The problem here being that the clean production values are themselves another veil masking Williams' fundamental badness--and so this album becomes, like its predecessors, an exercise in misdirection and deceit.
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A performer like Williams has a lot to lose by releasing what is, by and large, an accessible pop-rock album.
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Dec 20, 2010It's half-baked as well, never distinguishing itself from other rock & roll throwbacks.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 40 out of 45
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Mixed: 5 out of 45
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Negative: 0 out of 45
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Oct 9, 2019
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Dec 3, 2015
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Sep 1, 2013