- Record Label: Savoy Jazz / Sanctuary
- Release Date: Jan 24, 2006
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Such sentiments are couched in consistently wonderful songwriting, surf's-up vocal harmonies... and lavish electro-pop.
-
An endlessly enjoyable sophisticated pop album.
-
Turnpike is Saint Etienne's strongest record in years.
-
This is gorgeous record that starts great and gets better with each additional hearing.
-
BillboardThe trio has fine-tuned its sound, making it more complex and compelling. [14 Jan 2006]
-
The album comes out as their most organic since 1998's Good Humor; even the tracks driven by programming are warm in comparison to vast chunks of both Sound of Water and Finisterre.
-
Los Angeles TimesIf it's pop craftsmanship you are after, few can equal this melancholy concept album and the sheer virtuosity of its hooks. [22 Jan 2006]
-
Entertainment WeeklySE are as champagne-fizzy as ever. [10 Feb 2006, p.137]
-
Their most contemporarily relevant and best album since 'Fox Base Alpha.'
-
UncutIf Saint Etienne are finally growing up, this wistful adulthood becomes them. [Jul 2005, p.96]
-
MagnetIt's as good a collection as Saint Etienne has ever released. [#71, p.111]
-
The most fully-realized thing-- if not the most exciting one-- the band has released since 1994's Tiger Bay.
-
SpinIt's so London-specific that it almost requires an England-to-English translation for us Yanks. [Feb 2006, p.92]
-
MojoWell before David Essex provides a gruff guest turn on Relocate, you are entirely won over by this record, brimming with music from a postcode synonymous with class. [Jul 2005, p.106]
-
New Musical Express (NME)Succinct, tiny pop gems like 'Milk Bottle Symphony' and 'Relocate' are beautifully realised. [11 Jun 2005, p.67]
-
A modest triumph.
-
As varied in musical styles as its disparate cast of characters suggests.
-
UrbDisplays gorgeous layering amid catchy pop, mysterious Spanish acoustic guitar, and self-effacing lyrics. [Mar 2006, p.118]
-
Overall the LP falters too often.
-
BlenderNot much happens, which seems to be the point. [Jan/Feb 2006, p.96]
-
Under The RadarFew of the tracks hav[e] enough energy or personality to break out of the enveloping lull created by perfectly crafted arrangements and manicured vocals. [#12, p.93]
-
Q MagazineThree tracks in you realise with horror that [it] is a concept album. Worse, it's a concept album of kitchen-sink dramas about Tony The Milkman and Doris The Housewife set to Saint Etienne's dated indie disco. [Jul 2005, p.120]
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 23 out of 29
-
Mixed: 2 out of 29
-
Negative: 4 out of 29
-
JaimeZMay 23, 2006With any dubt about it, this is the first conceptual album from Saint Etienne and the best. Ethereal, danceable, nocturnal.
-
JeffTApr 10, 2006
-
KipKFeb 26, 2006