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Jun 10, 2013The more the band embraces Pythons' slickness, the better it sounds; it's a pleasant, ingratiating set of songs that don't aim to be anything more than that.
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Jun 13, 2013Truth be told, Pythons seem to feel pretty conflicted about itself: hooky, Weezer-ish guitar pop offset by desperate, discomfiting lyrics, fleeting hopes of reconciliation quickly dashed by heavy-hearted resignation.
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Jun 11, 2013Pythons is a fine slice of punchy garage-pop, the kind to be blared from car stereos on sun-fueled, summer road trips that would coincide with the album’s June release.
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Jun 21, 2013An utterly charming album.
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Jun 11, 2013Producer Gil Norton smooths the foursome's edges while interjecting horror-comic backup yelps that marked his Pixies work decades ago; little else here would befuddle aging Cure or Weezer fans.
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Under The RadarJun 13, 2013Nothing about Pythons is going to win over anyone who didn't like the band's debut, nor will it alienate existing fans. [Jun-Jul 2013, p.91]
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Jun 11, 2013The result is a fine summer pop record that encourages listeners to approach as they will.
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Jun 13, 2013It's got an edge, moreso than Astro Coast, and that element of creeping unease makes Pythons a fuller, more mature and honest album than its precursor.
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Jun 11, 2013Between Pitts' unrelieved misery and the tepid music, Pythons makes a bitter, unsatisfying brew. Imbibe at your own risk.
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Jun 7, 2013The tunes are there, they’re tsunami big and surfer cool--the lyrics are there, bold, bleak and biting--but there’s been an oversight when it comes to stamping on the pedals, letting rip and allowing Surfer Blood to tear this material a new hole.
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Jun 11, 2013On Astro Coast Pitts stared at the bright, unwritten future in front of him, but on Pythons he’s locked in place, rendered motionless by the oppressive chip on his shoulder.
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Jun 10, 2013The hooks are still here, but that level of hyper-attentive musicianship is absent on this decidedly punchier, glossier effort.
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Entertainment WeeklyJun 7, 2013[Pythons] is an effortless balance of melodic whoa-whoas and yelp-shout-screams--the kind of songs you used to discover watching MTV's 120 minutes in your dorm room at 3.a.m. [14 Jun 2013, p.94]
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Jun 7, 2013Pythons is less dynamic than its predecessor, with fewer chord changes and less overall complexity.
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Jun 14, 2013The main issue with this album is that it is not terrible and it is not brilliant. It is simply there.
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Alternative PressJun 7, 2013By smoothing out the rough edges, the guys found new ways to bleed. [Jul 2013, p.104]
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MagnetJun 17, 2013A neat, consistently solid 34-minute record unconcerned with peaking or hits. [No.99, p.61]
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Jun 10, 2013Despite this dark lyrical shift, the group is still aping sunny surf-rock and collegiate-pop tropes.
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Jul 22, 2013It makes for a suitably successful second record that, regardless of the salacious story surrounding the band that made it, pretty much lives up to the inspiring promise of their first.
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Jun 12, 2013This plays like any other band's greatest hits. Every song is gold.
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Jun 28, 2013The band’s most mainstream offering yet and first for their major label home.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 13 out of 21
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Mixed: 4 out of 21
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Negative: 4 out of 21
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Jun 18, 2013
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Aug 14, 2014
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Jun 19, 2013