- Record Label: Kill Rock Stars
- Release Date: Oct 12, 2004
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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The WireThe sound has a new depth. [#249, p.65]
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The result is so refreshing original, it not only cements Gold Chains' position as one of today's best and brightest indie-tech gurus; it also says, coolly and effortlessly, that genre boundaries are "no big thang".
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UncutA startling album of high-spirited pick'n'mix pop. [Nov 2004, p.122]
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The disc is basically a more straight electro-pop variation on the Gold Chains angle.
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The spoken-word Sonny and Cher act of Chains and Sue does gets tiresome at moments, lyrics like "you be the follower, let's kill the leader" aren't as clever as their authors believe, and the record does run on a fairly consistent mid-tempo bounce.
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While changing approaches is a good idea, particularly since Gold Chains's earlier work flirted with novelty act status, When the World Was Our Friend is not an impressive album.
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These brittle, next-wave-of-new-wave productions plow no new ground and barely serve the lyrics to which they're chained.
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Unfortunately, the observational heart of the disc's best rhymes are obscured by manicured eccentricity and musical dilettantism.
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The key flaw with this album is that it doesn’t have any of the bangers that GC can do so well.
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Q MagazineIf iPods came with a button that randomly spliced tracks together it would sound like this. [Dec 2004, p.137]
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Alternative PressDarker, glitchier and garage-punkier... a gamble that doesn't always strike gold. [Jan 2005, p.114]
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UrbA lot of these tracks sound like either near-misses or music made to play when your roomate's pissing you off. [Jan/Feb 2005, p.102]
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When the World Was Our Friend is for third-tier tone-deaf hipsters.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 2 out of 2
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Mixed: 0 out of 2
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Negative: 0 out of 2
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veronicahDec 12, 2004