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Jun 9, 2016Aas a whole, Why Are You OK isn't quite as memorable a set as they've proven capable of delivering.
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Sep 30, 2016The now-South Carolinians intermittently evoke that inaugural 2006 disc by employing a fresh producer, Grandaddy mage Jason Lytle, who stamps his former band's downtrodden space rock into BoH's festival formula.
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Jun 15, 2016Though it sometimes gets lost in its own sleepy sweetness, Why Are You OK finds just enough of those grand moments of simplicity.
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Jun 14, 2016It’s not they’ve gone back on themselves or regressed; it’s just that Band of Horses have naturally, and happily, managed to wind their way back home.
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Jun 10, 2016The sonic pivots make Ok a compelling listen. Bridwell’s exploration never feels chaotic. Instead, it’s what keeps the record’s momentum going.
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MojoJun 9, 2016Much of Why Are You OK may be lush and beautiful, but there are too many rambling tracks to put it up with Bridwell's best. [Jul 2016, p.95]
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Jul 6, 2016The lyrical themes in the album about living a quiet domestic life are aptly mature, but also a tad empty and lack much insight, literal to the point that you’d assume main songwriter Ben Bridwell was peering through a window during sessions to write about anything he could find.
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Jun 14, 2016Every darker, weirder impulse got glossed over while the music gives an agreeable shrug.
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Jul 20, 2016They may not be groundbreaking, sophisticated, or poetic in any sense of the word, but what they lack in complexity and nuance they make up for in solid, simple tracks that are as harmless as they are amiable. Sometimes, that’s all it takes.
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Q MagazineJun 9, 2016Reassuringly, life is good once more. [#361, p.107]
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Jun 20, 2016Relief all round then that their fifth album is a shimmering thing of beauty; a fresh summer breeze blowing in full of character and heart and sweeping away the dirge and disappointment of their last outing.
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Jun 10, 2016The mood throughout is amiably diverse. Every Band of Horses record feels like mixing your dad's records with your records.
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Jun 9, 2016Band of Horses’s fifth album makes something of a triumphant return to the wide-eyed, dreamy vulnerability that marked the Seattle band’s first two records.
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Jun 9, 2016Why Are You OK finds dad-of-four Bridwell reflecting honestly on the ennui of everyday, surburban life. Unfortunately, the result is largely forgettable.
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UncutJun 21, 2016More than once, it is difficult not to drift into wistful contemplation of the splendid, unreconstructed rock'n'roll racket of which they might be capable if they tried underthinking things for a change. [Aug 2016, p.74]
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Jun 24, 2016While Why Are You OK may struggle to match the specific peaks of some of their previous work, its consistency, cohesion, and variety of songcraft breathes new spark into the band's flame and hints at a brighter, more expansive musical future.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 12 out of 14
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Mixed: 1 out of 14
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Negative: 1 out of 14
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Jun 12, 2016
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Jun 13, 2016
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Jun 16, 2016