Reviews
"...Their melodies, earthy but otherworldly, infiltrate your head before retreating into space..." - Rating: A-, "...Warm and sunny (though unsettlingly so)...like the eels fronted by a young, easily-breakable Neil Young....The use of computers and electronic SFX emphasizing their dark, distorting, disturbing qualities...", Ranked #6 in Spin's 'The Top 10 Reissues Of 2011' -- "A mini-epic about how technology didn't destroy us like we thought it might; ELO and Pink Floyd writ small.", 4 stars out of 5 -- "THE SOPHTWARE SLUMP's themes of technological decay, alienation and the beauty of nature had been hinted at in Grandaddy's previous work, but here were rendered in Technicolor; radiant and often beautifully, desperately sad.", Included in Cmj's "Best of the Year" for 2000., 4 stars out of 5 -- "It's the third in a trilogy of Great American Albums....THE SOPHOMORE SLUMP is ensured a glorious glowing half-life.", "...Works within a tradition of records that owe as much to the Echoplex as they do to impending nervous breakdowns and squandered cash advances. And that's what makes it a keeper...", Included in Magnet's "20 Best Albums of 2000"., Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000"., "...Poignant and Peculiar....Suggesting a Stoned...Version of the Flaming Lips' Eccentrics...", 3 stars out of 5 - "...Low-budget artwork, fuzzy synths and utterly bizarre song titles...all ring large, Pavement-sounding alarm bells....the opening track 'He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot' is one of the most perfectly crafted songs you'll hear...", 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Exhilarating....a loose indie-rock suite about how sad and funny and fleeting technology actually is....frontman Jason Lytle's rigorous, knotty songwriting skills check his band's yen for indie-rock messiness...", 4 stars out of 5 - "...This year's chosen chunk of cosmic Americana...sounding like a lo-fi ELO and...possesses an admirably unusual songwriter....Cheap, cheerful and utterly charming.", Ranked #6 in Spin's "10 Best Records You Didn't Hear Of The Year 2000" - "...Obsessively melodic snatches of indie pop...", 4 Stars Out of 5 -- "It's the Sense of Oddly Euphoric Sadness That Lingers Most Powerfully.", Ranked #12 in Nme's "Top 50 Albums of the Year"-"...The Finest Lp Made by Men with Beards...", "Everything about the California quintet's modestly epic exploration of technological and societal breakdown reeks of uncanny prescience -- especially lyrics."
