User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info
  • Record Label:
  • Release Date:
Perch Patchwork Image
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

  • Artist(s): Shiraz Dada, David Davison, Erin Elders, Chris Hainey
  • Summary: Maps & Atlases’ second EP, You and Me and the Mountain, found the band moving in a lighter direction than the mathematical frenzy of their first EP Trees, Swallows, Houses. Their first full-length sees them fully morphed into a sophisticated indie pop group. Perch Patchwork is a boldMaps & Atlases’ second EP, You and Me and the Mountain, found the band moving in a lighter direction than the mathematical frenzy of their first EP Trees, Swallows, Houses. Their first full-length sees them fully morphed into a sophisticated indie pop group. Perch Patchwork is a bold debut, filled with bombastic arrangements, twisting modal progressions, and percussive layers. The skill set is high, but it’s far less showy. Guitarists will still be enthralled by Dave Davidson's and Erin Elders' fingertapping, but acoustics take precedent, and moderately slow tempos maintain the album's balladic feel. If Trees, Swallows, Houses felt like a cousin to Don Cab or Hella, their first Barsuk outing has adapted the organic spirit of their Northwestern labelmates (particularly that of Menomena, the Long Winters, and John Vanderslice.) Of course, with Maps & Atlases' virtuosic chops and syncopated leanings, they kind of resemble BLK JKS or Minus the Bear, albeit with a Jethro Tull influence. Trendy South African rhythms and austere strings spin a web around Davidson’s poetic lyrics, and in this intricate, introspective setting, their talent becomes very clear. ~ Jason Lymangrover Expand
Buy Now
Buy on
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 14
  2. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Even though the change in sound might alienate the most stubborn of fans, what they gain on their Barsuk debut is a new found sense of direction and a grandiose vision that stretches farther than the confines of math-rock ever could.
  2. Uncut
    80
    Their full debut is more "pop," if you stretch the definition to lovely multi-vocal interplay, grooves that stay convoluted but move their asses, and songs with hooks and momentum. [Nov 2010, p.93]
  3. While Maps & Atlases are milder and less daring than either of those bands, Perch Patchwork is eclectic and consistent enough that each detour offers its own small reward.
  4. For the half hour that this beautifully oddball symphony persists, it's hard to determine where anything begins or ends--a track, an instrument, Davison's voice, or the music itself. And that's a good thing.
  5. For a debut, Perch Patchwork feels oddly transitory, but suggests good things when the band decides what to transition to.
  6. Under The Radar
    60
    Maps & Atlases take advantage of the space to properly stretch out on their first full-length record. [Summer 2010, p.84]
  7. Ultimately Perch Patchwork has some good pieces that just don't combine to make a great album. It's hard to call a band that is just releasing its debut full length "overcooked," but that's exactly what some of these tracks sound like.

See all 14 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of
  2. Mixed: 0 out of
  3. Negative: 0 out of