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10.0
94616
10.0 |
The Skinny
Bitingly acerbic and cynical, yet achingly sincere
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10.0
94620
10.0 |
Pretty Much Amazing
A handful of superb records have already been released in 2017. Pure Comedy’s scope, ambition, and beauty herald something bigger: the year’s first great album
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10.0
94645
10.0 |
Mojo
Pure Comedy is quite some trip and one that lifts Father John Misty to another level altogether
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10.0
94746
10.0 |
Earbuddy
If it really needs a label, then “grandiose” works best. However, Pure Comedy should be grandiose. This is seemingly Tillman’s magnum opus
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10.0
94751
10.0 |
NME
A beautiful, illuminating masterpiece
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10.0
94775
10.0 |
The Guardian
There’s something hugely impressive about coming up with an album that somehow manages to be both incredibly discomfiting and easy to listen to
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10.0
94842
10.0 |
The FT
Handsome piano rock tempers satiric verses about man’s inhumanity to man
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10.0
94924
10.0 |
State
This is a fantastic piece of work. It is vital, energetic and real and it is music for protean times
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9.2
94754
9.2 |
Paste Magazine
The central joke being the perfectly dissonant balance of sincerity and sarcasm conveyed by music and lyrics alike
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9.0
94480
9.0 |
Slant Magazine
The focus remains squarely on Tillman's lyrics and captivating voice, which in terms of tone and delivery remarkably melds austere Leonard Cohen-esque matter-of-factness, billowing would-be croonerisms, and silky-smooth falsetto
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9.0
94659
9.0 |
Exclaim
Packed with so much meaning and complexity, it feels as overwhelmingly absurd, joyous, curious, tragic, extraordinary and contradictory as life itself
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9.0
94732
9.0 |
PopMatters
While Tillman stands well above any of his peers working in a similar lane, his classicist songwriting and production approach evoke the work of the late Elliott Smith
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9.0
94738
9.0 |
Under The Radar
Big and clever, and oh so very brilliant
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8.4
94978
8.4 |
Gig Soup
For all its ups and downs, one thing remains clear: Josh Tillman has ascended to a new level of songcraft with ‘Pure Comedy’
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8.3
94484
8.3 |
Consequence Of Sound
A beautiful album about how mankind doomed itself
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8.3
94781
8.3 |
A.V. Club
A placid, undulating folk record with orchestral flourishes—more precisely, a modern update of mellow AM Gold
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8.0
94786
8.0 |
All Music
Pure Comedy delivers upon much of Father John Misty's outlandish promises
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8.0
94789
8.0 |
DIY
Give it time and it’s not far short of exceptional
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8.0
94803
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
Distills terabytes-worth of doomsaying Facebook rants into a 75-minute comic-existential opus that functions like a despair inoculation
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8.0
94755
8.0 |
NOW
One of the first — and best — post-Trump albums in what’s sure to be a long line over the next four years
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8.0
94768
8.0 |
The Irish Times
A stately blend of crafted high pop and reflexive ruminative reflection
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8.0
94769
8.0 |
The Independent
An absorbing, intermittently amusing album
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8.0
94777
8.0 |
Evening Standard
The former Fleet Foxes drummer proves himself a national treasure on introspective follow-up
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8.0
94753
8.0 |
American Songwriter
Jump on, relax and enjoy the ride
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8.0
94646
8.0 |
Uncut
A moment of paradise on a hearse-ride through hell
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8.0
94624
8.0 |
Loud And Quiet
Slow avalanche of ballads that relentlessly nags at the absurdity of mankind
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8.0
94644
8.0 |
Q
Despite the bleakness, it’s delivered with wit and warmth, and redeemed by the tiniest twinkle of light. Print edition only
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8.0
94680
8.0 |
Clash
Misty keeps this album pretty genuine
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8.0
94682
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Despite its multitude of sideways glances, Pure Comedy isn’t a contemptuous sneer, rather an attempt to dust oneself off and seek control of a ship that’s destined to sink no matter what
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7.6
94808
7.6 |
Pitchfork
Father John Misty is a consummate entertainer. On Pure Comedy, he questions the value of entertainment, capitalism, and everything else in a grueling odyssey through the psyche of Josh Tillman
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7.5
94734
7.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Another elongated and extensive example of Misty’s intense outlook on cliché, contradictory and conceived contemporary life
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7.0
94797
7.0 |
Spectrum Culture
The musical equivalent of a cold margarita on a hot summer day, refreshing and yet somehow a little sour
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6.2
94707
6.2 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
Shoots itself in the foot too many times to become the masterpiece it longs to be, but
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6.0
94628
6.0 |
The Music
There doesn't seem to be any silver lining underneath all the vitriol. But perhaps that's just the way things are for now
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6.0
94810
6.0 |
musicOMH
Pure Comedy would have benefited from some more musical mood-lifters in the mould of Total Entertainment Forever
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6.0
94888
6.0 |
The Quietus
At every moment of the album, it’s clear Misty values his role as provocateur, something that can certainly make a big impact, particularly as he gets a bigger and bigger stage. But some of his punchlines in Pure Comedy, if it’s fair to call them that considering the album title, hit too bluntly on the nose
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6.0
94890
6.0 |
The Observer
The follow-up to I Love You, Honeybear unfolds like a would-be Great American Novel, but it’s too clever by half and swamped by mid-tempo piano tracks
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6.0
95093
6.0 |
The 405
Be dark, Tillman, be dark. We'll follow. Just try and ensure the journey is worth the journeying
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4.0
95410
4.0 |
No Ripcord
Tracks meander insipidly, crushed by the weight of a solipsistic “message” and the real moments of quality only serve as a reminder of what might have been
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3.0
94695
3.0 |
God Is In The TV
There’s no variety, no upbeat numbers, no peaks or troughs, not even any virtuoso musicianship to briefly capture the attention. Just 72 minutes of blandness, with Tillman’s verbal diarrhoea smeared all over it
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