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8.1
53533
8.1 |
Paste Magazine
Making your body move to pogo, while your brain quietly weeps for humanity. Nothing like a little bloodshed to get the blood, and the fists, pumping
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8.0
53468
8.0 |
PopMatters
This 26-minute concept album is confirmation of the power and enduring brilliance of the Thermals as they show no signs of slowing up
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8.0
53585
8.0 |
State
It’s nice to have the Thermals back sailing high on irresistibly noisy and righteous ire
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8.0
53375
8.0 |
NME
As ever, their key skill is being extremely dark as well as mega poppy
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8.0
53444
8.0 |
All Music
The Thermals return to form with this scrappy collection, blazing through serious topics but never dropping the tempo long enough to get overwrought or self-indulgent
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7.0
53464
7.0 |
musicOMH
Though undeniably powerful, Desperate Ground does become a bit monotonous due to the lack of variety of mood and change in pace
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7.0
53401
7.0 |
DIY
Newer fans might not be totally impressed here but existing ones yearning for Harris’ observations should be satisfied otherwise
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7.0
53427
7.0 |
The Digital Fix
Desperate Ground is perhaps not as commanding a record as their 2006 breakthrough The Body, The Blood, The Machine in terms of stand-out songs
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7.0
53373
7.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Another great demonstration of what makes this band one of America’s worst kept secrets
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7.0
53374
7.0 |
Drowned In Sound
A record that is reliably good by their own decent standards, but which fails to fulfil its very apparent potential to be great
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7.0
53596
7.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
The Thermals do what Green Day seemingly can’t anymore: they make anthemic punk-tinged pop that provokes serious thought and demands to be sung along to gleefully
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7.0
53624
7.0 |
Slant Magazine
What stops Desperate Ground from eclipsing the Thermals' best work is its periodical monotony
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6.6
53567
6.6 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
It’s still The Thermals, it’s still catchy as fuck, and I’ll still turn the volume way up when I listen to it in the car this summer, but they’re capable of more than this
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6.0
53859
6.0 |
No Ripcord
Desperate Ground is certainly a passable entry into The Thermal’s catalogue, but the only thing that I’m left to fear is that the chaotic, exhilarating Thermals of the past may be long gone
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6.0
53923
6.0 |
God Is In The TV
Undoubtedly, this is the sound that has been developed ‘for the fans’ and many will see it as a definitive return to form
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6.0
53376
6.0 |
The Skinny
Composing polemic anthems is what The Thermals do best; anyone after a more nuanced discussion would be best advised to look elsewhere
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5.9
54484
5.9 |
Beats Per Minute
It’s impassioned as you like, but the stalwart commitment to their gameplan is wearing a little thin
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5.5
55003
5.5 |
Under The Radar
Desperate Ground feels more like an unrelenting march than an odyssey
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5.0
53471
5.0 |
A.V. Club
Desperate Ground has a tendency to sound monochromatic and homogenous. Songs blend into one another, and few tunes linger once the album ends
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5.0
53466
5.0 |
Pitchfork
Desperate Ground is a record that really wants to convey having something to say and Harris has run out of ways to say that something
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