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This Mess Is a Place Image
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The fourth full-length release for the Seattle pop-punk band was produced by Erik Blood.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. May 7, 2019
    81
    This Mess Is a Place is exactly the kind of album we need in 2019. It sounds like rainbow sherbert and friendship bracelets. It eschews irony and defeatism. It calls us all to build a brave, colorful new world together--and have one hell of a good time doing it.
  2. May 7, 2019
    80
    This Mess Is a Place is considerably more grown up and pop-leaning than any of Tacocat’s previous albums, with lavishly massed vocals and bounce-y hooks, yet it retains an air of joyous subversion, sweet but spiky and smart.
  3. May 29, 2019
    80
    While the second half of This Mess Is a Place is slightly less strong than the first (but only slightly), it still rings true with songs in which narrators repeatedly seem to be approaching friends and saying, "Hey, times are weird, but I'm OK, I think. How about you?"
  4. May 16, 2019
    70
    Your mileage with This Mess is a Place may indeed vary, but more than anything, if you’ve had a lousy, or dull, day, it’s sure to jump start your tired mind into grinning goofily with its sugary, determinedly peppy rush.
  5. May 24, 2019
    70
    A thread of hope and resilience runs through, via bright, surfy punk and power pop.
  6. May 7, 2019
    69
    It’s fun and messy and you might forget it completely by the next day. No regrets, though.
  7. Mojo
    May 7, 2019
    60
    Stirring stuff, but a little goes a long way. [Jun 2019, p.96]

See all 8 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Dec 9, 2019
    9
    Fun LP. The Joke of Life and Crystal Ball are perfect pop songs with a great lyrical edge.