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10.0
58465
10.0 |
PopMatters
Its distillation of a personal past is so well executed, its imagery so powerful, and its emotions so hard-won, that you can walk into the picture of Sheff’s hometown Meriden
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9.0
58414
9.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
Brims with imagination and the natural majesty found in The Granite State
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8.3
58415
8.3 |
A.V. Club
Unlike the labored Very Far, this time the songs seem to pour out of Sheff, fueling the band’s jauntiest, peppiest record since 2007’s The Stage Names
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8.1
58511
8.1 |
Beats Per Minute
Isn’t so much a new sound for Okkervil River as it is just a new attitude
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8.1
58474
8.1 |
Paste Magazine
The Silver Gymnasium grows on you, and sooner or later its nostalgia becomes your own—only the names and places are different
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8.0
58477
8.0 |
Blurt
A journey into a past which will always have more to offer each time you listen to it
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8.0
59497
8.0 |
musicOMH
Consistent and cohesive in its portrayal of innocence, childhood, and growing up, themes to which every listener can relate
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8.0
58413
8.0 |
FasterLouder
Very few bands can alchemise sophistication and ambition into such jaunty, windows-down exhalations
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8.0
58471
8.0 |
Under The Radar
Finds the band a little more controlled, the emotions a bit more corralled, more focused
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8.0
58418
8.0 |
All Music
Sheff's willingness to strike a balance between his roots rock past and his personal past should please longtime fans and newbies alike
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8.0
58419
8.0 |
Uncut
The sincerest, most heartfelt album they've yet assembled
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8.0
58446
8.0 |
Q
Ebbs and flows on a tide of nostalgic storytelling. Print edition only
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8.0
60089
8.0 |
The Quietus
A triumphant new phase for the band
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7.0
59467
7.0 |
NME
Will Sheff maps out his teenage years - but the concept sometimes overwhelms the passion
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7.0
58417
7.0 |
Slant Magazine
The setting's specific focus provides Okkervil River with what might be its most fixed concept yet
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7.0
59504
7.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Mixes maturity and depth with rare awkward moments which are more typical of a band that is musically in their late adolescence
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7.0
58711
7.0 |
The 405
In creating this autobiographical album Sheff has given us an insight into his childhood, as well as an opportunity cast our minds back and bathe in the nostalgia of our own
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7.0
59316
7.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Where 2011’s I Am Very Far sometimes drowned in instrumentation as a result of layering takes, Sheff has shed his shroud of sonics in favour of a lighter production reminiscent of 2008’s The Stand-Ins
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6.8
58416
6.8 |
Pitchfork
Perhaps when performed live these songs will accrue the desperation and dynamism their studio versions lack, but for now The Silver Gymnasium too often makes the act of remembering sound like a consequence-free undertaking
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6.0
59416
6.0 |
The Observer
In its more understated moments, such as slow-burn closer Black Nemo, music and memory chime beautifully
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6.0
60270
6.0 |
Mojo
Sheff's songs struggle to match the abundant hook-line quotient of his youthful influences and inspirations. Print edition only
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6.0
60328
6.0 |
State
While The Silver Gymnasium has much to recommend it, it is far from the group’s best
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4.0
59451
4.0 |
DIY
Whereas previously there had been enough rough edges to complement the raw, and occasionally borderline unhinged, vocal delivery, now the newly polished sound makes this the most uninspiring album, musically, in the band’s catalogue
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