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Thomas' craft is tremendous for a newcomer, especially in an indie-rock moment that needs it.
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Thomas doesn’t need to be so shy anymore; with a solid debut and complimentary bandmates, he’s comfortably found his outlet.
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Happy Birthday may be bedroom lo-fi from the fuzzy sound to the scribbled cartoon cover art, the buzzing guitars to the off-kilter subject matter of the songs, but they transcend any limitations of the style (real or imagined) by writing songs that would be great no matter how they were recorded.
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UncutThere's so much tunefully wild enjoyment on offer it's hard to pick highlights. [Jul 2010, p.110]
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Happy Birthday displays a vast knowledge of pop’s history and mines it to great success to piece together a power pop album for now, while still referencing all the important points that came before. It’s derivative but sounds fresh, which is what rock n’ roll does best.
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Thomas glues the pretty (Garbus' vocals) and ugly (his own screeching, see also: his work singing in Witch) together with fantastic melodies, at times so plentiful they bury one another.
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Sonically, we’ve got a pastiche of historically catchy musical styles, with a Lou Reed touch here, a Superchunk riff there, a 10cc harmony under it all.
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While this does fall in with a pretty crowded lo-fi movement going on, Happy Birthday is also an unabashed pop record unafraid to wear its grainy heart on its sleeve.
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These tunes are fun and youthful, but also grown up and varied--there’s something for everyone here, whether you’re blasting this record at the park with mates or in the car on a road-trip or sitting on the beach--all you need is a little sunshine and wine (not in the car, though, please) and let Thomas, Garbus and Weisman take you to that place we all remember well (fondly or not).
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Distracting at times is Thomas’s voice--he seems to take pride in being purposefully off key--but breezy opener “Girls FM” and later the low key “Eyes Music” calm his shrieking affinity and keep him just where he needs to be; melodic.
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Q MagazineThis 11-song Lp is less freak folk than freak scene, as the trio balances lo-fi guitar crunch with Chris Weisman's adenoidal vocals. [Jul 20120, p.93]
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Under The RadarA handful of fun tracks here, but no overly impressive. [Winter 2010, p.72]