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Nothing they've done can match the pure pop beauty of "Puzzles Like You."
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Regardless of tempo, these are some of the strongest, most involving songs the band has ever recorded.
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Mojave 3's new material isn't an abandonment of any strengths; it's an embrace of the simple pleasures of the classic '60s garage-pop style of songwriting.
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Puzzles Like You contains the excellent balladry expected from Halstead, but the real surprise is the decidedly up-tempo guitar pop that blows away any conceptions of the band as purveyors of a countrified blend of mope rock.
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New Musical Express (NME)Mojave 3's Great Leap Forward. [17 Jun 2006, p.39]
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FilterIf anything, Neil Halstead & Co. turn things a few shades brighter with Puzzles Like You. [#20, p.104]
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The better part of this record is certainly charming, even more likeable than the folk that came before it... The only problem is that the magic fades.
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Paste MagazinePuzzles' songs are accelerated to the point of whiplash. [Jun/Jul 2006, p.128]
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"Puzzles Like You" may not stay the distance but there's certainly enough here to gain Mojave 3 the wider audience they deserve.
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UncutToo lo-fi for its own good. [Jul 2006, p.102]
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The brisker numbers rub shoulders with Belle & Sebastian; the janglier ones Teenage Fanclub.
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Under The RadarThere’s a wealth of experimenting going on in the studio with Puzzles Like You, and it creates a timeless A.M. radio sound. [#14]
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SpinBear[s] the mark of Big Star. [Jul 2006, p.85]
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UrbEschews gauzy isolation to embrace the heartfelt immediacy of chiming, breezy pop in a Big Star way. [Jun 2006, p.119]
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Puzzles Like You... is not at all Halstead's best work, and what has sounded simple and subtle before begins to feel simplistic and blunt; the songs here move with an energy that seems either forced or mocking, and on the whole embrace the kind of triteness they used to offset.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 14 out of 15
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Mixed: 0 out of 15
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Negative: 1 out of 15
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ryansDec 7, 2006
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JonLSep 13, 2006Absolutely incredible. Their best album yet by far.
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petefAug 5, 2006I listened this album today at the bus on the way to the beach and I found myself crying of joy