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Dec 28, 2020Mamalarky is a promising debut, no doubt. In places, though, it feels fussed-over, which saps some of these songs of their warmth and intimacy, and keeps them at an arm’s length. If Mamalarky spend more time writing, playing, performing and just being together, they’ll almost certainly overcome that obstacle.
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Dec 28, 2020The band pulls from a myriad of sources yet does an impressive job of synthesizing them into a distinctive sound. Though the songwriting can sometimes be difficult to pin down and engage with, Mamalarky has come forward seemingly fully formed with one of the most inventive debuts of this year.
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Dec 28, 2020With this much creativity, it’s unfortunate that the band falls into predictable patterns on wordless bridges or codas that start to feel samey after 10 songs. The spidery instrumental “Singalong,” on the other hand, is a smart sequencing choice to mix up the album’s flow, while “Big Trouble” has the most notable tweaks to their formula.
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Dec 28, 2020Taken together, it's a fun, adventurous half-hour set that will likely leave those who stick with it wanting more.