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10.0
13845
10.0 |
God Is In The TV
I have already decided that nothing that arrives on my lap for the rest of the year will even remotely touch how great this album is, and just think, it's only their debut, so they can surely only get better?
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8.0
12428
8.0 |
musicOMH
With every listen, Beachcomber's Windowsill reveals a new layer of depth which in turn suggests that Stornoway have released one of the most impressive debuts of the year
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8.0
12450
8.0 |
NME
Print edition only
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8.0
12477
8.0 |
The Irish Times
A murky flotsam of folk and pop: hummable choruses, poetic stories shared over a pint
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8.0
12511
8.0 |
The Times
There’s no reason Stornoway won’t go on to make even better albums, but they’ll struggle to make one that radiates such guileless charisma
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8.0
12456
8.0 |
The Guardian
Stornoway do telling details better than broad brushstrokes, which is a limitation. But when they do telling details that well, that, and any other objection you could raise, doesn't seem to matter at all
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8.0
12543
8.0 |
The Observer
Convey an emotional depth that transports their music from throwaway sunny songs to something altogether more poignant and enduring
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8.0
12600
8.0 |
Clash
Tales of restlessness and frustrated love, each played out against an uncluttered yet busy jazz-folk soundtrack that Stuart Murdoch would kill for
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8.0
12680
8.0 |
PopMatters
Doe-eyed and whimsical, this toe-tapping outfit’s painterly view of the world is both thoughtful, and inspiring
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7.5
12893
7.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
A superb achievement, a record moulded in the band’s own image and one they will be deservedly proud of but still one which reads as a signpost as to what may come rather than a definitive statement
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7.0
14680
7.0 |
Rave Magazine
The closing double of The End Of The Movie and Long Distance Lullaby rounds off the album in a nice, if perhaps slightly too subtle, way
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7.0
12653
7.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Far from perfect, but its flaws serve to underline that this is the sound of a band in its infancy, and ultimately make it all the more loveable in doing so
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7.0
12516
7.0 |
The Digital Fix
When Stornoway transcend the obvious genre elements - both lyrically and musically - they could be a new Waterboys
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7.0
12535
7.0 |
Independent on Sunday
Like Mumford & Sons, Oxford quartet Stornoway are nominally a folk-based outfit, and whip up a light soufflé of strummed six-strings and chorister-pure singing
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6.8
15284
6.8 |
Pitchfork
Their weightlessness is refreshing in three-minute bursts, but feels thin after forty
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6.5
12859
6.5 |
Bowlegs
While there’s the sense that Stornoway aren’t exactly trying to align themselves with the Madchester scene, there is the feeling that they are borrowing some of the better parts and, to a certain extent, folking them up
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6.0
12452
6.0 |
Mojo
Print edition only
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6.0
12454
6.0 |
Uncut
The sound of New, very un-weird, England. Print edition only
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6.0
15387
6.0 |
Blurt
The quartet works best in breezy, mostly acoustic pop cuts like "I Saw You Blink" and "Here Comes the Blackout"
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6.0
13965
6.0 |
State
Stornoway’s future looks bright. If not destined for the irritating ubiquity of Mumford & Sons, they’ve certainly made a valiant attempt at the pop chart peripheries.
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5.0
13836
5.0 |
The Quietus
Beachcomber's Windowsill is okay. It might be the type of album to use selfishly, to pluck out the good songs for use as mixtape filler or the perfect tearjerk-off
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4.0
12592
4.0 |
Q
Leaves the impression of clever clogs playing at being a folk band. Print edition only
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4.0
12474
4.0 |
The Independent
It's pleasant in parts, if a touch earnest; but crucially, as "Watching Birds" confirms, they can't rock'n'roll for toffee
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