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Feb 4, 2014Ultimately, with The Age of Fracture, Cymbals turn disconnection and dystopia into danceable fun.
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Jan 27, 2014This record is fun with a capital ‘F’, but there are moments of gravitas too. Not easy to do, that.
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Jan 23, 2014Debut ‘Unlearn’ showed promise but Age of Fracture is that promise realised and then some.
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Jan 23, 2014Wallowing, dreary vocals are effectively juxtaposed with electronic twinkles on the likes of ‘You Are’. But other tracks, like ‘The 5%’, seem too chaotic and narrowly miss their targets, resulting in an album just falling short of top marks.
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MojoJan 23, 2014Cymbals do serious but successfully swerve the perils of the po-faced by being fun. [Feb 2014, p.96]
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Feb 3, 2014That’s the realm where CYMBALS work best, when they use understated sonic brushstrokes--a flutter of synths here and there--to deepen the mood.
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Feb 12, 2014So, ear candy it is for Cymbals and The Age of Fracture. Whitney trumps fine art, and that’s okay.
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Feb 5, 2014Despite the loftier academic allusions, the band’s music is most affective when dancing on the peppier side.
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Jan 23, 2014The movement towards synth pop is arguably a risky one, especially considering how congested that particular market is already. Yet, Cymbals show enough promise on The Age Of Fracture to suggest that they are in it for the long haul.
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Mar 12, 2014The strategically elusive songwriting and well-curated nostalgia quotient are almost enough to make disconnectedness sound fun.
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Jan 29, 2014Their sound feels a little dated, especially when you consider the amount of bands who just a few years ago were producing very similar material. Yet, they show promise and in their final song 'Call Me' show a more introspective side with Vangelis style synthesisers over reverberated guitars.
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Q MagazineJan 28, 2014The laser-guided synth-pop of The Natural World, hip-thrusting disco epic Like An Animal and Erosion's Invocation of early New order all pulsate with the excitement of a band discovering new capabilities, even if Cleverly's somewhat histrionic vocal style can take some getting used to. [Feb 2014, p.115]
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UncutJan 23, 2014The London quartet signpost the album with handsome literary and academic allusions in anticipation of an edifying dance direction, but end up trotting out the kind of meek synthfunk once propagated by the likes of Hot Chip and Metronomy. [Feb 2014, p.73]
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Jan 23, 2014While their aesthetic hangs in the balance, they’ve proven on The Age of Fracture that they have it in themselves to achieve cohesion.
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Feb 10, 2014The problem plaguing The Age of Fracture is inconsistency; the filler material is unmemorable and a little bland.