| | Full Review | Ratings (192) |
Give your Rating |
| 3.8 excellent | Atari STAFF | May 20th 18 |
Bump if you, too, hate it when friends treat you like stranger-ers
6 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | butcherboy | May 19th 18 |
forever stuck at 3.. the musical equivalent of a club sandwich..
5 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | commonist | May 19th 18 |
65/100. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Unfortunately, outside of the singles this is an incredibly generic and uninteresting record. Where did Courtney's edge go that initially drew in her fans? Disappointing to say the least.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | keza | May 18th 18 |
Her most interesting album to date, with actually intriguing lyrics, sharp production, and far more engaging performances than she normally gives. As someone who can barely stand her previous work, this is pretty damn great from the get-go.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.3 great | Erwann S. STAFF | January 29th 24 |
Barnett's indie rock really shines in the first half of Tell Me How You Really Feel, only to dramatically fall down in the second half. Eh.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | gofrosty | December 18th 18 |
This record really grew on me. Only a track or two caught my attention on first listen, but over a few weeks the album took over my life. Simply put, much of this record is catchy as hell. The lyrics aren't as verbose as in Courtney's previous record, but she makes up for it with way catchier melodies (both vocal and guitar) and some really punchy, often noisy, guitar sounds. That said, the slower tracks, particularly the last two, don't do too much for me. Favorite tracks: City Looks Pretty, Help Yourself, Hopefulness, Charity.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | TheManMachine | August 31st 18 |
Lyrically inspired as her preceding breakthrough was, it also lent itself to the record's undoing for me -- which may be why I prefer this more moderate effort. The songs here are comparably slack but confident+charming as such, admirably rawer yet still a bit too deep in the realm of drably stated garage-alt regularity. Faves come precisely at beginning middle end: the nervous bass-lined tread of opener "Hopefulessness", the snarly keys-as-weapon determent of insecure men from "Nameless, Faceless", missing someone's face on singularly intimate ender "Sunday Roast". For what it's worth, her live performance conveyed a much less rockstar'd combo of Kurt and Courtney (Love, that is), so that's promising.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | cjbizzlebizzle | July 12th 18 |
Tell Me How You Really Feel sees Barnett going from mostly bright and upbeat/tempo with some angst/melancholy in her last LP to a more mellow atmosphere with fuzzier production and a few upbeat tracks. There is nothing wrong with a more toned down, introspective release but this album just feels closer to other indie rock than the brilliantly natural and clear 'Sometimes I Sit...' The album does start off with great track variation and some really memorable choruses and vocals from Barnett but the second half of the album starting at 'I'm Not Your Mother...' shows a bit of drop off and a sort of lull to the finish, some sameness in this stretch. Crippling Self Doubt and a General Lack of Self Confidence might give us a hint here as Barnett sounded much more confident and direct in her previous releases and here she comes off as much more reserved, this change just doesn't suit her vocal style as much. That being said, her knack for songwriting and top notch melody making is still apparent and there aren't any poor tracks offered here. The first five songs are all memorable and it is definitely worth sticking around for the second half of the album.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | hung0ver | June 17th 18 |
Builds on the debut LP, providing more of the tongue-in-cheek lyricism that made the debut such a fun listen, whilst improving in terms of depth, sensitivity and complexity. A solid sophomore record.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | vonseux | May 30th 18 |
the internship with Kurt Vile produced good results
Bump |
| 3.5 great | lz41 | May 23rd 18 |
Well, the way forward for Courtney Barnett is clear. After her Dylan-does-Seinfeld debut album revealed a fun and original lyricist, her sophomore shows a slower, more insular and emotional writer... sometimes. Because when it doesn't, we're just left with some thin "Sometimes I Sit" leftovers.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | nuklearmoose | May 21st 18 |
Flows really well imo. The singles are even better now that they are together in one piece. Honestly, this album flies by, and is laid back which makes it an enjoyable album for any day.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | tom79 | April 3rd 24 |
| 4.0 excellent | Matty CONTRIBUTOR | January 4th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | iGuter | November 17th 21 |
| 2.0 poor | Piglet | November 16th 21 |
| 3.5 great | fog CONTRIBUTOR | June 10th 21 |
| 3.5 great | wg98 | January 21st 20 |
| 3.5 great | alamo | September 6th 19 |
| 1.5 very poor | gschwen | January 16th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Krelkin | January 2nd 19 |
| 2.5 average | jtswope | October 9th 18 |
| 3.5 great | progsun | September 4th 18 |
| 3.5 great | A.R.O. STAFF | August 2nd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | bgreen5 | July 12th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Shempt | June 24th 18 |
| 3.5 great | ARTV | June 23rd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Khattak | June 22nd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | amchec | June 5th 18 |
| 2.5 average | Rail | May 26th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | wwf | May 21st 18 |
| 3.5 great | fdrc | May 21st 18 |
| 3.5 great | gilly | May 21st 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | gijsr | May 20th 18 |
| |
Give Your Opinion on Tell Me How You Really Feel
|
