| | Full Review | Ratings (111) |
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| 2.0 poor | zillah | November 13th 11 |
I missed Smith Westerns' self-titled debut, and it's now pretty far down the list of records I plan to buy. As I understand the band's evolution, however, that record was a lo-fi affair which achieved sufficient success to encourage them to follow it up by coating their sounds in some higher-priced studio sheen. They've received a lot of praise for this but, judging from Dye It Blonde, it really doesn't suit them at all. In fact, I have the strong sense that the glossy production strips these songs of whatever innate personality and pleasurableness they might have had as sweet, rough-hewn compositions. There are genuine hooks, but, coated as they are in such slippery and expensive-sounding production, they glide on past, leaving the listener (or me at least) yearning for a bit of sweat and strife, something that sounds at least a little bit physical. Cullen Omori sounds positively anodyne as he drops sweet bon mots to his beloved ("weekends are never fun if you're not around here to-ooh-ooh-ooh") or glams it up with puppyish exerburance ("All Die Young"), his vocals mixed into the stew of shimmery guitars and keyboards with disconcerting precision. After several months of listening I can barely distinguish the songs from each other and never have the urge to listen to any one in particular. For a band that wants to (be) pop, this is not a good outcome.
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| 4.5 superb | oyoungster | February 17th 11 |
Just listen to the songs "Still New" and "Dance Away" and let your heart melt. Now maybe it's just the fact that I'm 17 years old, but I dig this album beyond belief. Despite it's superficial, cheesy, non-groundbreaking lyrics. Sometimes people just need an incredibly catchy rock 'n' roll album in their lives. I sure do.
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| 0.0 | Steoandnoodles | January 21st 11 |
No doubt; Smith Westerns have a sound. It's not their sound however and though it clearly has a lot of layers and depth, it lacks texture. Everything feels the same, and in result; a majority of the songs sound the same with the exception of 'Dance Away'.rThe real downer is the vocals. They are without life or soul. They barely play a part in the music and thus; it's hard to take them or the lyrics seriously.
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| 0.0 | DocSportello | January 15th 11 |
Let the dumb blonde jokes ensue. Or not. Dye It Blonde doesn't deserve the hard-earned children of your wit.
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| 3.0 good | LiquidSwords | January 5th 11 |
Sounds good for the first few tracks. Then you start noticing that the singer is putting no
effort into this at all.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | trevvvy | March 21st 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Samus27 | November 20th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Vojtino | April 10th 13 |
| 3.4 great | Rudy K. EMERITUS | April 10th 13 |
| 3.5 great | flaffy | March 16th 13 |
| 3.5 great | tnd | February 15th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | plato66 | October 6th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | nwagner | February 15th 12 |
| 3.0 good | doqtor | December 28th 11 |
| 2.5 average | CurtSev | November 25th 11 |
| 2.5 average | inca829 | October 13th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | T0rr35 | August 15th 11 |
| 3.5 great | Polvo | July 19th 11 |
| 2.5 average | Aids | April 24th 11 |
| 3.5 great | jusbrp | March 26th 11 |
| 3.5 great | Yotimi | March 15th 11 |
| 2.5 average | Zephir | March 5th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | Flowers | February 26th 11 |
| 2.5 average | JohnSGB | February 10th 11 |
| 3.5 great | 4ester | January 26th 11 |
| 2.5 average | Kiran EMERITUS | January 21st 11 |
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