- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
For every tempest like "Lassoo" or "Neptune's Call," there's an unabashedly pretty moment like the almost serene "Wooden Heart" or "Sovereign," either of which would have been completely out of place on Cuts Across the Land — but it's the depth, power, and flair of moves like these that make Neptune the real introduction to the Duke Spirit.
-
This truly is a beautiful collection.
-
An album of murky depth, of seductive charms and no end of style.
-
It’s tighter, and incredibly, more intimate and intense than the first, this is a band that functions as a whole, not merely a threadbare net of musicians straining to support the singer.
-
Under The RadarWith Neptune, The Duke Spirit have dredged the sea of their collective talents and recorded a small masterpiece. [Spring 2008, p.75]
-
For most of Neptune, the Duke Spirit graft sweet coatings onto a dark, swirling center.
-
In a nutshell, Neptune is a bit like Grace Slick fronting the Bad Seeds but not as good as it sounds.
-
The Spirit still play hard-to-get, which helps to avoid any ridiculous moments on this polished sophomore effort, but they're often too stand-offish to even challenge the listener, let alone push the envelope that their influences have so neatly prepared for them.
-
Though their efforts to keep the flame of rock'n'roll burning bright are to be applauded, the feeling that the real standard bearers are tuning up elsewhere is impossible to shrug off.
-
Too often, though, this record slips into a comfort zone that, while making it impossible to generally dislike, renders it hard to get excited about.
-
There’s a more defined sound about their sophomore than to their debut, but in opting to clear up the blurred focus and smooth the edges of "Cuts," they also instilled in their music a thirst for hooks and melodies which they don’t always provide.
-
Their original surging punkery has been preserved in the shape of a few basic indie-moshpit numbers like Into the Fold, but, elsewhere, the addition of trumpets and violins take things to a more interesting level.
-
UncutThe second album from Cheltenham's The Duke Spirit sounds every bit the heads-down attampt at chart-bothering major rock album. Except, well, it's on an indie, and the tunes don't always match the band's stadium-echo ambitions. [Mar 2008, p.86]
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 9 out of 10
-
Mixed: 0 out of 10
-
Negative: 1 out of 10
-
J.ShepardCJul 15, 2009Talent overload, outstanding performance but their best is yet to come!
-
CaseyRDJul 4, 2008
-
SteveOJul 2, 2008I honestly don't understand these reviews! The band is great and the songs are well written... This is a great indie rock album.