- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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MojoThe effete Norwegian's music is becoming too unobtrusive for its own good. [Apr 2009, p.103]
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Listening to Rules is a surprisingly boring experience. At several instances throughout this album you wish someone would let rip with a guitar solo, fire off a rave horn or just do something to liven up proceedings.
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Q MagazineThe result is a marriage of indie pop and dance music, containing a number of tracks that are just a remix away from clubland glory. [Apr 2009, p.111]
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Sadly, the effect is often not strikingly minimalist but blandly beige, at times recalling Jamiroquai's most soulless moments.
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Hooks hit their fleshy mark here and there--'Dead End' is a compulsive, '80s-flavoured high and 'High On The Heels'' clipped acid house proves endearingly gauche--but it's cold comfort on a record that fleshes out a promising template to only diminishing returns.
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So, his odd decision to make Jamiroquai-like pillow-pop adds yet another string to Oye’s heavily-laden bow, but this is one we’d happily take the wire-cutters to.
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A handful of marginal highs aside (the minor urgency of 'Courage,' the fluid sobriety of 'Gravity'), it's hard to shake the feeling that Rules would be a lot more satisfying if it broke a few more.
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In all, the languidness of Rules has its own odd charm—since WBA never aspire to be much beyond a wistful dance pop quartet, they don’t fall down the stairs too embarrassingly.
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UncutRules finds The Whitest Boy Alive turning noticeably paler, peddling a shade of Ralph Lauren yacht-rock that would make Hall & Oates blush. [May 2009, p.105]
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Rules may not be the shape of what’s to come, but there’s also little offence to be found in its unobtrusive ways.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 13 out of 15
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Mixed: 2 out of 15
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Negative: 0 out of 15
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Sep 22, 2012
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Aug 9, 2016
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May 1, 2012