User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info
Uncle, Duke & The Chief Image
Metascore
71

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

User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Awaiting 3 more ratings

  • Summary: The fifth full-length release for the Canadian indie rock band was produced by Richard Swift.
Buy Now
Buy on
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Feb 16, 2018
    83
    At nine tracks, there’s not a flop in the bunch, making Uncle, Duke, & The Chief an extremely likable return to form from an extremely likable band.
  2. Feb 23, 2018
    80
    With Uncle, Duke & The Chief, they confidently step into calmer, more spacious sonic terrain and lean on classic pop songwriting. The nine songs still take plenty of left-field Ruffian tangents, but they come in brief, controlled bursts that add personality and colour.
  3. Apr 26, 2018
    80
    They exit the proverbial time warp tunnel with a sophisticated release that beckons recollections of classic rock groups while forging their own sound. Influences from Buddy Holly to Beach Boys to even The Beatles are felt on Uncle, Duke & the Chief and Born Ruffians rightfully stand in good company.
  4. Feb 16, 2018
    70
    Sometimes, Luke LaLonde's yawp pierces through this stylish murk, as if he's impatient with these mannered arrangements, but this tension also provides a perhaps necessary counterpoint to Born Ruffians' newfound earnestness; it adds color and dimension, keeping the songs from seeming po-faced and giving Uncle, Duke & the Chief just enough jolt to be unpredictable.
  5. Q Magazine
    Feb 22, 2018
    60
    It's an engagingly ramshackle record, off its hinges, but never off the peg. [Apr 2018, p.106]
  6. Feb 16, 2018
    60
    Uncle, Duke and The Chief is a chirpy affair that’s very much in the vein we’ve come to expect, even when there’s a sadness permeating the lyrics.
  7. Feb 26, 2018
    50
    Trading the band’s raggle-taggle instrumentation for vintage echo, Mac DeMarco slick and C86 crunch only oversaturates this occasionally loveable, mostly feeble effort.

See all 8 Critic Reviews

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