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Native Speaker Image
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings

  • Summary: The Canadian quartet delivers experimental, post-rock dream pop on its new album.
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Top Track

Plath Heart
there's no loving after all this crap we've been through if I've not come up back to you pretty boy your smile planting in my spine don't get a hold... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 22
  2. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. Jan 18, 2011
    90
    If there's ever been an advertisement for allowing bands to develop before they blow up, Native Speaker is it. You'll probably listen to more immediate albums this year, but few will have the down-the-rabbit-hole quality that marks Native Speaker for success.
  2. Apr 7, 2011
    80
    With Native Speaker, Braids project dreams onto iridescent lakes and marvel at how they glimmer, and the results are every bit as lovely as that sounds.
  3. Q Magazine
    May 18, 2011
    80
    Rarely do teenage kicks result in such eloquent, nuanced records as this. [May 2011, p.118]
  4. Jan 18, 2011
    75
    Even when the songs struggle to find their end, Native Speaker remains a remarkably confident first outing.
  5. As long as Braids can escape unscathed from the hype machine, this could be an amazing journey.
  6. Jan 25, 2011
    70
    Yes, the influence of bands such as Animal Collective and Gang Gang Dance is present more often than not, but like all noteworthy artists, Braids are guided by the approaches their avant-pop inspirations take, rather than merely the sounds with their own distinct twist to them.
  7. Jan 20, 2011
    60
    Yet even if their musical imagination gets away from them sometimes, Braids still come out ahead in the bargain, because all their futzing around tends to strike on unique and engaging combinations more often than not.

See all 22 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Feb 21, 2011
    5
    I like the overall sound of the album, but ultimately there's not enough going on harmonically to keep me listening. Playing a lot of loopsI like the overall sound of the album, but ultimately there's not enough going on harmonically to keep me listening. Playing a lot of loops and layers over one or two chords can work if the songs are short enough and there are other points of interest, but I don't feel that is the case here. Also, it sounds way too much like Animal Collective. Expand