Reviews (page 4 of 7)
Keri, I kinda like it.
Screams 2010s loudly. A good album, maybe a little too much of the same and a bit too long to really be great for me.
The seeds of greatness.
Solid vibes, was the peak of this kind of music
This is a banger if you ask me. I love CHVRCHES they are great. Except for when they let the guy sing.
It’s like Katy Perry singing for Depeche Mode or New Order. I love this dark, mature icy electro-pop. I can hear the indie/alt rock influence on the song writing. A great new discovery for me.
great album, fun and different. vocals can get kind of annoying after a bit.
Absolutely loved the synthesisers. The whole album had a real 80s vibe. I don’t know why it makes the list but it is a great listen. Favourite track is: The Bones of What You Believe
I really really liked this album. Between the synth pop vibes, the percussion, and the almost robotic sounding female singer, the whole thing just felt very vibrant to me.
There is music I like better by Chvrches, but this is still good. Just not their best. I was debating between 3 1/2 stars or 4, so I'll average and round :) 4 stars.
I think it’s saying something that I’ve heard most of these songs out in the wild before. Maybe a bit repetitive but overall a strong album of quality pop
Really cool sound
Pleasant electropop with good energy. I recognise 'Lies' from the Tourist remix, which has been a long-time favourite. Quite like the slower pace of 'You Caught The Light' at the end of the album too.
Definitely worth another listen. Her voice is so high, though, it’s distracting.
Now you’re talking!!! This is exceptionally good! I love the whole urgent vibe of the record and the lassies vocals are mesmeric! Fuckin’ awesome!
A few Christmas’s ago, I was discussing new bands I liked with my nieces and Churches was one of the few areas of overlap. I would describe them as synth-pop, with a moderate emphasis on the pop but enough to keep my (then teenage) nieces interested. The lead singer borrows a style popular on the radio these days, I don’t know what it’s called, but Lorde sings in a similar style. That style of music doesn’t do much for me, but I’m going to go +1 for the edgier pieces like “Science/Visions” and especially “Lies”.
Kinda like this now
Decent album with delucious synth sounds but reminds me a lot of Naked and Famous and I think they do it better. Great opening track tho.
Pleasantly surprised!
Really liked this one.
This was a fun way to start the day.
Great album!
Kinda catchy
I really like this album and band.
CHVRCHES is one of those bands that my husband always asks me why I don't listen to, since they sound like other stuff I'm into. This was my first time giving them a real chance. It reminded a lot of Lights and maybe even a little bit of Taylor Swift, on certain tracks. I liked it overall on my first listen and plan to listen again. It wasn't love at first listen but I think it would grow on me more.
sonzao tri, futurista e pa
Good lyrics.
Interesting album. A tad bit generic for it's age, but not in a bad way. I enjoyed it as a background music.
Electronic pop with high prodution values. It flows very nicely and even has two songs that I quite liked - Recover and Night Sky. But this album hasn't any really bad songs. The production quality is very high, too. This is what modern pop sould sound like (instead of 95% of tracks currently in the pop charts, but that is another story). 3.5/5
Being a big fan of 1980s synth pop as well as some more modern incarnations such as Icona Pop, I had high expectations for this album. The first listen through didn't meet those. However, listening again made me realize that I might really love this one, given a few more listens. I quite enjoyed it and would like to get to that point.
This one was totally new to me and I thought it was enjoyable. It didn't always connect, but overall it made a positive impression.
I like the general sound of it and the edginess of the lyrics. I don't know if this is so but it seems like the kind of music that would play over the end credits of a tv show popular with millennials (not an insult).
This is the one CHVRCHES album I like. And like it I do. 4/5
My first experience with CHVRCHES was their most recent (or recentish, since I believe they have a new one coming out), checking it out on a whim and being blown away. Yet I checked out very little of their other stuff. This is pretty good, but it feels like practice for later highs. I can see how this would blow pop fans away at the time though, and I love how the last song interlopes The Cure’s “Plainsong”. Soon, Lauren (who really is a gifted singer) will get to duet with Robert Smith. B
Very pleasant, sounded like disclosure inspo
Quite fun and vibey, the songs sorta blended into one for me so I’m not rating it too high but still good
There are a few CHVRCHES songs I really like. But listening to this album has left me feeling like they're a bit of a one-trick pony. Like, we get it, you like synths. So do I! But hearing basically the same song over and over for 48 minutes does kind of wear on me. It's still better than a lot of the nonsense that's come up on this list though (can you tell I'm starting to lose steam now that I'm 600 albums into this project?)
Synth pop in general and CHVRCHΞS in particular are fine, but nothing here grabbed me. I don’t regret listening but I also don’t see me putting this album on any time soon. I wonder if their popularity says more about when it came out than anything else… 3⭐️
Another average album on this list. Decent songs but no real variety in style. The singer also lacks a distinctive voice. I know they are trying to create an eighties type sound but it lacks the spark of that decades music
surprisingly not bad group. New to me. Glad to get some female front bands. 902
3.5
Album is fine. Not sure why it made the list.
Ah man, this takes me back big time. Starting university, long nights playing FIFA and pre-drinking before student nights and trying to stay awake in lectures the morning after. This album featured a lot in those times. Listening back now, it’s nothing particularly groundbreaking, but on a personal level, those memories from a relatively carefree time, just living each day intertwined with songs like Gun & We Sink perhaps give me rose tinted glasses. Lovely stuff.
Good to hear some more modern pop on the list. I liked it.
ppo
Good but I remember it being better than it is
mano sla.. daora que foi um gênero diferente. eu curto tlgd. mas meio estranho pra mim.. tive um momento legal mas ao mesmo tempo fico pensando por que essa porra tá nessa lista cara? 2013? tem coisas do mesmo gênero MUITO mais importantes que isso e que fizeram muito mais pelo gênero.. eu posso tá louco
Is this early techno pop? I listened, didn't grab me, didn't offend.
Synth pop with an indie rock influence. It was okay. Better than most pop.
I love the sounds on this, the songwriting on the other hand is a bit hit and miss - I'll definitely delve in their later albums
I'm actually a CHVRCHES fan, but I find this confusing. It's not a bad album, but I'm not sure I hear something in this that really hits like a generational statement, that makes this a record you MUST listen to before you die. Also, while this is their debut, their specific voice and creative vision comes through MUCH stronger in later records, especially Screen Violence. I think there's a much better argument for including that record in a list like this, rather than their debut.
Powerful earworms, immersive synths and a beautifully unadorned vocal presence from Lauren Mayberry. This album starts out on a tear but falls apart after track 8 or so when the melodies start to bleed together and the bludgeoning dynamics wears you out.
Kind of forgettable.
I didn’t hate it
Highlights: The Mother We Share, Lies
So many synths! Was surprised to learn they were Scottish.
Surprisingly, disappointingly underwhelming. Not awful, but based on reputation I had hoped for more.
sounds like 2010s optimism
I was excited to see that today's album is firmly in the 21st century, but perhaps not all that surprised to discover that the Scots came fully equipped with sounds from before they were born. They do a good job updating 80s-style synth-heavy pop to fit the 2010s--especially in the mixing department, with a much fuller sound than anything from 30 years prior. They have an impressive number of singles on the album, and a few of them stand out, mainly the opening "The mother we share" and "Recover". (A bit disappointing that the many videos seemed pretty uninspired.) The remainder is solid, and it definitely gets more interesting (and more modern sounding) as you get to the second half, but overall it's not really the kind of sound I gravitate towards (a bit like The War on Drugs), which is not their fault or problem, I know. An impressively strong album for a debut though.
Favourite tracks: Gun, Lies, Night Sky, Science/Visions I love the retro vibes. Totally would've belived this was released in the early 2000s or earlier. Great vocals too. However it does get a bit boring after a while. There's enough to keep me interested but at times the pop influences make me scrunch my nose up. 3/5
Might be because I just listened to Pet Shop Boys yesterday, but these guys sound like natural descendants of that kind of 80s synth-pop to me. If a friend told me I should listen to this, it would feel like a pleasant little diversion and I might say, "Thanks for the tip." If someone told me that I MUST HEAR THIS ALBUM BEFORE I DIE!, I would say something like, "Why again?" Still, mostly harmless.
I feel like a lot of the people writing pop today were listening to this album
'The way is long, but you can make it easy on me.' Well, there's something here, something real, passional, & restorative, but it's also I've-heard-it-all-before-I-think-in-Walmart-music, & no surprises are ultimately proffered w/ these twelve tracks. 'Trade our places, take no chances / Bind me 'til my lips are silent.' Then again, synth-pop doesn't necessarily go for surprises, more like prolonged astonishment, the kind you get during a night out that has no single moment of revelation but a marathon of confidence & well-being. Personally, I'd rather have a bit of both, the long run as well as the short term, but CHVRCHES gives you religion & much less fun than you'd think. It's fun enuf tho, & proficiently produced, so I acquiesce . . . for now.
Some nice songs and vocals but too much synthesizer for my taste.
A dear late friend of mine stored his record collection in moods, seasons, occasions rather than alphabetical. Today’s album, a synth pop, 80’s influenced record would not be an album I’d go out of my way to listen. However, an early morning walk along the canal with the sun shining, birds singing and this playing was absolute joy, a real feel good album. Now I get why he stored his records that way
Quality album
Definitely interesting. It really caught my attention. I think this may grow on me. Really liked "The Mother We Share", "Gun", "Lies", "Science/Visions", or "You Caught The Light". It's probably a bit too long. It's 3.5 stars for me.
This has a subtle and not-so-subtle thread of yearning. The constant feeling of wanting something more, connection, understanding...
Big sounds. Big feelings. Everything is big big big. I see the goodness but not necessarily the greatness. Maybe that's enough. It does not wear out its welcome. If things ever flagged I found myself intrigued by what came around the next corner. Startled but not surprised. What more can you say about a modern album. 3.5 stars.
First Impression: Sad Blümchen doing an Imagine Dragons album. It's fine. Musically, I like it a lot. Lyrically, not really into it. I don't need a bunch of break-up/make-up songs that blend together in a haze of neon-colored LEDs. Thanks though. Sounds like what Taylor Swift *thinks* '1989' sounds like. I do like "Science/Visions" and was hoping for more of that. I didn't get it. :\ Now I'm just sad. If they had leaned into that dark synth sound and dropped the teeny bopper crap I'd have loved this album.
It’s very mid, I am not really sure how it made it here honestly. It’s not bad but it’s nothing astounding. Just a very middle of the road album. The typa shit my wife would listen to, and not in a good way.
Особливо ніколи не слухав Чьорчез. Знаю, що був великий гурт в середині десятих, багато друзів їх зацінювали. Мені здається, що був на якомусь фесті, де вони грали, але я пішов на щось інше. Альбом практично не пам'ятав, окрім хіта-відкривашки. Приємна поп-музика, все побудовано на синтах. Є трохи філерів, проте загалом альбом приємно слухати. Я б поставив 3.5. Розумію чому цей альбом може тут бути, хоч я його сюди не додав би)
Дуже добре пам'ятаю хайп на цей гурт і я навіть сам трохи піддався йому тоді, ходив на їхній канц у 14му році. Насправді доволі мила музика, але як на мене, постарішили черчес не дуже добре. Ну або як мінімум слухати зараз їх мені не дуже цікаво. Але приємна ностальгія по тим часам виникає коли слухаю цей альбом (бо наступні мені не подобались і я скіпав).
Never heard of this band and enjoyed the album. As a child of the OG synth movement this group does a nice job of carrying it forward. Nice vocals too.
The Bones of What You Believe has that glossy 80s synth-pop DNA lathered all over it like butter on flapjacks, but avoids the "assembled in a clean lab by robotic labor" sound inherent to the time. It’s bright, catchy and full of movement. The whole thing has a nice little shake to it. It bops, it swells, it pivots just enough to tickle on me grapes. A few times it creeps into that techno-adjacent zone where I start searching for the exit, but never actually loses me. It stays warm, melodic, and just human enough. Pretty fun, pretty different, and honestly just a very easy record to enjoy!
i love this album, and it was probably one of the albums of the year when released. would not, however, list it on 1001 albums. melodies are great, but this sometimes feels too detatched, too disparate to make a truly great album. every open eye is probably the better album. or screen violence. using my judging hat, i can only give this a 3. a very strong one though.
A good pop album. But not much stands out.
i enjoyed it, but electronica isn't really my genre. maybe it would grow on me the more i listened to it, but overall it was aight
I really like a couple random chvrches songs and I did enjoy this album but they use a similar synth sound on almost every one of their songs. It’s fine when just listening to a single song and gives them their own “sound” I guess, but in album form, at least change up the sound of the synth every once in awhile.
jus mid ass 2010s electropop. its not bad just nothing very interesting. You know its bad because ppl love to pretend now a days that their so nostalgic for this sound, and yet you hear no one talking about chvrches ever. that felt harsh, this album is fine mb
Me hizo retroceder al 2013, un año donde la música y la moda de contrastes mezclando la nostalgia grunge con una estética pop electrónica, vibrante era tendencia en esa época. Solo eso
All songs were the same. I already had heard before some and Tether was in my liked songs
I like! solid album, no real 'stand out' tracks but the that's partially because the whole thing was just a nice listen
Decently cool synth pop but a bit too bubbly for my taste.
Singing is a bit weak, especially in the first half. It might just be the production aspect of it too. The schtick does tire itself with the same synth-pop sound. Nevertheless, this record foreshadows the greater 80s revival in the next decade.
I wasn’t cool enough to listen to CHVRCHES back in the day, so this was really my first exposure to them. Objectively, I can get behind this album, but on a purely subjective basis I don’t like the way the music makes me feel (electronica/adjacent always has a weird physical effect on me; I cannot listen to Flume for this exact reason). The stretch from Tether to Recover was my fave
The Mother We Share - 4.5/5 We Sink - 4/5 Gun - 4/5 Tether - 3.5/5 Lies - 3.5/5 Under The Tide - 3/5 Recover - 3.5/5 Night Sky - 3.5/5 Science/Visions - 4.5/5 Lungs - 3.5/5 You Caught The Light - 3/5 Strong Hand - 4/5 Broken Bones - 4/5 Gun - KDA Remix - 3/5 The Mother We Share - We Were Promised Jetpacks Remix - 3.5/5
this was a pretty generic electronica album. Its pronounced, "Churches" right?
It was ok. Nothing special
tumblr ass music tbh
It was OK - but that was about it. The Chvrches have a few good tracks, and my favourite is the one that was on the game Death Stranding. Apart from that, they are a little vanilla pop for me
Reminded me a little of The XX, and a little bit like Sylvan Esso - except that I really like Sylvan Esso! CHVCHES didn't quite hit the mark for me.
I like the beats and the vocals are great too.
This album felt inescapable when it came out and yet I had forgotten it existed until now. I don’t know when the last time I saw any mention of this band, so I think perhaps it was premature to include it here. That said, it is enjoyable, but I never really got into the hype surrounding it.
Pleasant enough electro-pop. But I find it unremarkable and it does not move me at all. Goes in the drawer where the likes of Lorde, Taylor Swift etc. sit, and that drawer stays shut. A 3 because I feel generous today, and it does have a charming sound. Why is this on the list?
I struggled with this one. Mother We Share is such a killer song and I was so sure I would give this AT LEAST a 4… it just dies down a bit as it progresses. I lost interest about halfway through unfortunately.
enjoyed listening; would play again
Bloody close to a 4. It grew on my the longer and louder I played it
I recognised the first song. It was played quite a lot at the time. Not bad, but over the course of the album I found the sound a bit repetitive. Synth, indie pop.
The mother we share - 3 We sink - 3 Gun - 3 Tether - 3 Lies - 3 Under the tide - 3 Recover - 3 Night sky - 3 Science/visions - 3 Lungs - 3 By the throat - 3 You caught the light - 2
I had heard "the mother we share" of course but never thought more deeply about the band. Had a lot more fun with this than I expected to. Probably only need one album from them but definitely vibed out.
The opening track, The Mother we Share, is great. The rest didn’t live up to that.
It's very cool, sounds different from what I usually listen to, lots of the melodys and harmony are pretty interesting as well as the synths and vocals. Songs do sound a bit similar at times but lots of songs are very interesting. I really enjoy the sonic atmosphere and that almost dreamy feel but synthpop wouldn't be something I listen to on the regular. It is a good record, just not for me. 3.5/5 on Rym. 3/5 on 1001.
Ok, decent
It's like I listen to a 80 ies girl popstar but it is a band from fuckin Scotland acceptable
An okay listen. Started to sound repetitive and too similar to other artists.
I enjoyed it. But after sleeping on it, I can’t remember any song so the best I can give it is a three.
Good stuff
I find it funny how I've never being a fan of the 2010's synthpop / electropop, but know it has become quite nostalgic for me. What I like about this album is that it allows me to disconnect my mind, something that I needed, thanks to the songs being very similar, so I didn't have to really think about what they are doing different in each track. In addition, the captivating and catchy female voice and the spacey synths very influenced by vintage synthpop from acts like Kraftwerk, also contribute to the ability of getting lost in the music. If I have anything negative to say about the album is that not all songs stick, the ones that do aren't super impressive, some can feel repetitive and overall it is a bit formulaic. Fortunately, I don't think there is anything in here that ruins the experience or that is dramatically bad, so in the end, it is a nice experience. The best way I can describe this album is to call it a vibe, a good and catchy vibe that is very reminiscent of the 2010's mainstream electropop music.
Worth noting: the two guys in this project (Ian Cook and Martin Doherty) were previously members of or affiliated with a Scottish post-indie rock band called Aereogramme. Which sounded nothing like Chvrches. Unfortunately. I was really excited about the new project, then heard the first songs, and found it wasn't for me. I mean... They do have their own sound, when a song of theirs comes on, it's easy to tell it's them. I just find this genre and the songs themselves a bit bland, I'm afraid.
quite cool modern synth stuff, doesn't quite live up to my favourites in the genre but for what it is, it's good
i feel like it’s good when i was at a particular age when i went “huh cool electronic female led band” but nowadays i’m a bit more “meh” on it. it’s solid here and there but not really something i’d run to nowadays.
When this one came out I was at peak Tapped-In-ness with SiriusXMU and Pitchfork. So I remember a number of these songs. I LOVE the first two then they get really inconsistent. The sound design of the synths is really great all the way through but it's not enough to make it something I love a lot .
Pretty good. Reminded me of some songs off of the Cyberpunk anime sound track.
It's fun synth-pop.
I enjoyed this. Great voice great beats. I’m not usually a synth pop fan but I would listen to this again
It was a perfectly good synth pop album. For the length especially I felt it needed a bit more variation. It was a bit too same sounding. Also I was really not in the mood for it, which also affects my rating. 3.5/5 in a different mood I may like it more.
Chvrches' albums never quite match their live performances IMO, although the synth-pop and loops make for enjoyable listening. Lauren Mayberry's lyrics often strike a sharp contrast to the upbeat sound.
I liked this. Good to have something from this century. A bridge from the 80’s
Not my cup of haggis but I can see this being someone’s cup of haggis. The production value is there, I am just not into the genre of fake 80s. You can’t replicate the 80s there will always be tells that give away modernity in the music vs the genuine sound that came from the 80s. 5/10
The Mother We Share 2.7 We Sink 2.8 Gun 2.7 Tether 3 Lies 3.2 Under the Tide 2.7 Recover 2.5 Night Sky 2.5 Science/Visions 3 Lungs 2.4 By the Throat 2.5 You Caught the Light 3 Score: 2.75
Some really nice sounds here. Maybe a little bloated as my interest wained somewhat by the end.
Pop Electro. Not bad. 2.5 album rounded to 3.
This felt a little too joyful for a synthpop band. I needed a little darkness - I mean their Scottish for fucks sake!
Sounds like 2013, which was a good year
The most interesting thing about this album to me is that the only real instrument is drums. Often electronic drums but still, like a real dude playing them rather than programming them into a computer. Everything else is digital. It grounds it a little I suppose. While this isn't really a kind of music I would listen to all the time, I did enjoy this album for what it was. I really liked the vocals a lot, great voice and it fit in very well with the music. Minimal auto-tune which is always a good thing, and seemingly mostly used for effect rather than obvious correction. A hard one to rate for me. I liked it, probably wouldn't listen to it again but wouldn't be upset about throwing it on now and then. Would I buy it if I saw it in a record store? Yeah maybe if I was in the mood that day. But this is another example of why we need scores out of 10 or the ability to give half stars. This one would be like a 3.6 (7.5/10 maybe) but I just can't see rounding it up to a 4. So 3/5 it is.
3+
Some songs are fantastic and are great architypes of pop songs but other songs seem forgettable. The inconsistency of the overall album is disappointing but when a song is fantastic, it is truly fantastic. I would highly recommend parts and pieces but not the whole body of work.
its a tough listen up until the 3/4 song on the album the rest is pretty easy. i did think it was gonna be totally my vibe based on the genre but i mostly liked the 2nd half better.
5/10 On an initial background listen of this, there were promising signs. I actually quite like the aesthetic of the sound, with its synthwave edge and attempt at constructing deep and evocative atmospheres. Unfortunately, as I listened closer, and as the album rolled on, I often found that the actual musical compositions that the musical content that the production built around we’re actually pretty thin, a little lacking in really engaging hooks, and at certain points, became just a bit boring. It also feels a little bit half-done, in that while the overall atmosphere was decent, it felt like they could have spent more time working with dynamic and timing subtleties to introduce a bit more of an organic and human feel to it. As it was it just felt a little bit cold and uninspiring. Not that it didn’t have its moments. There were times when I started to sink into the vibe a little more, and when it did begin to wash suck me in, it was actually fairly enjoyable, but they definitely stretched the material too far and there were too many times where I felt like I was a bit stuck in an endless loop of arpeggiations and reverb. Neither of the vocalists were particularly special either, and I never felt like they were able to capture me with their delivery, which may have helped with my general appreciation of the music. Not to say that Lauren is a bad vocalist, she’s just a little bit safe, perhaps. I feel like I’d have maybe enjoyed this a little more if they’d work to add a bit of extra dynamic and variation in tone, not just in individual tracks, but across the album as a whole, and the fact that it was fairly stylistically flat wasn’t helped by its length. Overall, I’ve sort of found myself floating somewhere in the middle here, which is a frustrating place to be after listening to an album three times through. It doesn’t feel right to say it’s bad, because it’s not. I don’t feel like it ever really drifted into that zone, so as a whole, I can’t mark it down too far. But it’s also not really for me. The Mother We Share - There’s a fairly retrofuturistic synthwave sound to this. It’s got some decent melodic elements, but it all feels a little bit obvious and derivative without adding a vast amount of anything new. It’s not bad, though and you can definitely hear the anthemic sound that they’re going for coming through. Atmospherically, it’s not bad either. We Sink - The tempo to this isn’t bad and there are some promising bits of synth programming and sequencing, but it’s very harmonically static, despite the momentum of the programming. It does lift itself a little during the choruses, but it’s quite dynamically limited and a little too insistent even during the breakdown section. I feel like there could be something more if they’d given a bit more space and variety to the different elements. Gun - Again, the programming to this doesn’t provide much subtlety and dynamism to this, it’s all very dynamically flat and rhythmically fixed. It’s not bad, necessarily, but I feel like it could do with being a bit more organic. I was pleased to hear a little bit more saturation to the synth tones to begin with, but that distorted synth tone really isn’t very pleasing on the ear and jars with the rest. She’s a decent singer, but struggles to command attention for me. Tether - They’re trying to build something a bit more atmospheric here, but again things are a bit too robotic, not in a hypnotic, Kraftwerk way, but in a way that just feels a little bit flat. When things get moving a bit more, the drum beat is crap and the arpeggiated synth is just super 90s dance cliché and drags on for too long. It’s also very harmonically thin. Meh. Lies - This is very rhythmically stilted. It actually manages to build a decent bit of a danceable groove to it despite that, but it’s all very repetitive. Even when they do transition to slight variations, the changes are fairly limited and there’s nothing particularly hooky about any of the melodic composition either. I mean, there’s a core sound to this that appeals, but I don’t feel like it’s fully or particularly well developed. Under The Tide - More static arpeggiations and beats. Martin Doherty is less inspiring on vocal duties than Lauren Mayberry, sounding really quite generic. I can see what they’re going for here, but as with a lot of the other stuff, it’s terribly repetitive and dynamically limited. I’m kind of struggling with this a little at this point. Recover - Sometimes you hear an album where you feel like a lot of it comes from the preset synth patches for whatever synth they’ve got hold of, in this case, I assume a Prophet (yep, turns out it’s a Prophet 08). This is one of those albums. It may not be the case, but they definitely program the kind of sounds that sound like presets either way! And the fact that I’ve rambled on about synths says more about this track than whatever I might have written otherwise. It’s ok, the melodies aren’t bad, but are quite repetitive and stilted. It’s much in the same vein as the rest; atmospherically ok, but quite one dimensional. Night Sky - There’s a little bit more dynamic range to sections of this, which is nice. I quite like the vocal melody in the chorus, and the vocal edits in the breakdown section are pretty tasty too. There’s a bit more of a throbbing pulse to the rhythm here that gives it an extra element of tension. This isn’t bad, if still a little repetitive here and there. Science / Visions - The arpeggiated synth line that persists through a lot of this has got at least a little bit of tweaking going on to give it life, but it’s a very short sequence that gets repeated for too long. Martin’s vocal part is crap. I really do think there are some elements of quality in a few of these tracks, but everything feels a little bit underdeveloped. I’m just finding it a bit boring, to be honest and it’s not sweeping me up in the anthemic grandiosity that the production indicates that they’re trying to achieve. Lungs - This is a good, hooky pop melody, and it’s finally grabbing me. It feels like there’s a bit more consideration been put into the programming and it feels a bit more fluid and groovy than some of the other stuff. There’s a bit about a minute and a half that’s really beefy, but unfortunately it’s a bit too fleeting and only reappears at the end. Sadly, they don’t really take the core concept of this track very far, because what’s here is actually really good, but it just feels like it could have been expanded on to make an excellent track. By The Throat - More dance-music inspired stuff built on synth presets. It’s a bit limp to begin with, built it’s building to something, I think. Hang on, where the fuck is the bass after that build up!? They really pulled their punches there and it’s so unsatisfying. Eurgh. All it would have taken was a thumping bass and it could have really worked, but a miss is as good as a mile. Some of the synth parts here are really nice, but it’s so lacking in something to give the required punch to the gut. You Caught The Light - We had this distorted synth tone earlier and it’s just a little too harsh against the rest of the sounds for me. It’s really close to working, and it probably would if they’d avoided such a clean sound for the rest of the production, but as it is, it jars. Martin’s back with his beige vocal delivery. There’s some more good atmospheric production here and there’s a nice bit of dynamic range to it, but it’s just a little bit too dull again, and his vocal just doesn’t have the charisma or energy to achieve what it sounds like they were going for.
Len Houmous has never been to church! 3.0 1/12 The Mother We Share
Not unpleasant, very samey
Bit repetitive
Some songs I love, some grated a little. I like that their sound is original and different. They have a modern post apocalyptic sound. Taking a little club music fusing with a Bjork vocal sound. I don't think I need to come back to the album as a whole but i will enjoy some of the songs individually.
This has been recommended to me before by fellow Gen X-ers. I’m glad it is here now. I enjoy the modern bubbly 80’s style synths and the songs are catchy AF. It still sounds very 2010’s indie. 3.5/5
Chvrches are really great but this album is kinda whatever to me
Mai fand die gut
Feb 8, 2026 - i feel transported to my 15-year-old self lmao
I’d never given this a fair shot before because the female vocals made it seem like a teen pop star trying to make a nostalgia synth record and it doesn’t work for me. And that opinion has not changed, but the songs You Caught the Light and Under the Tide work better for me. 2.5⭐️
The most 2013 album
Started off pretty well, felt like it lost steam halfway onwards
Chvrches is another group I hadn't heard of, and so far I'm pretty sure I haven't heard their music until now. They are a Scotish synth-pop group and I'm really enjoying their sound. Overall I think it was a pretty good album, nothing really stood out to me as really amazingly good or bad, but it was definitely a good time.
Pop, but with a little more depth. I like the electronics and vocals.
Overall, I enjoyed this album. A lot of it is breezy, safe synth-pop that doesn't sound much different from a lot of the synth-pop from the mid 2010's. The first song that really caught me was Science/Visions, and I feel the rest of the album was much stronger than the early tracks. Maybe the sound was just settling in for me. But the early tracks have that bouncy, arpeggiated, dancy beat that make it sound like every other band from the time... the later ones are more retro and are more interesting to me. It would be a 4 if the whole album was like that.
I don't recall hearing Chvrches although I recognise the name of the group. I perhaps should have checked them out because the album is pretty good. Not stellar but definitely listenable. Not sure what genre it's classified as, perhaps electronica, but it's a style I enjoy for background listening so I'll probably look at their other albums now.
I like their vibes but didn't save any tracks.
Soundtrack for the 1980's pop-centric material girl, neon pop, glam dressing crush you had when puberty started slapping you directly in the feels.
Pop synth energy! 3 for Jon, 3.5 for Al. Not quite a 4.
Solid 2010s sound, not bad but not too memorable
I do like this one and it is very interesting and unique. I don't think I liked it more than a 3 though.
This is fine enough but I can't help but feel that it's one of those ones that seemed more important at the time and was dropped from later editions.
Probably the most modern album ive had so far. This had passed me by when it came out as indie pop and a listen doesnt prove me wrong. But its half decent. The energy and drive across the album is nice and gives it a really a really consistent upbeat feel. Her voice is fine but lacks variety after a while.
Okay, I liked 'Lies.' Now I'm.digging 'Undet The Tide,' This didn't start well for me. I'm not sure it's something I'd go out of my way to play, but it grew on me a bit as the album progressed, and there were definitely some tasty moments. At start this was two stars at best, at a few.points it was almost four.
3*
really great record top to tail
First 2 songs were terrific, then the next 5 tried to do the exact same thing. Could have done with 2-4 cut songs and resequencing
Honestly, pretty boring, but not awful either. Stand-outs - The Mother We Share - Recover
not really my thing but a greatttt 2013 album
Wasn't bad, wasn't great.
very repetitive tbh, but i liked a few songs so it was alright…
The album was interesting but a lot of songs sounded the same. I liked the synth but the album was just alright.
I didn't love this, but also didn't hate it.
Synth-y, froth-y. Nowhere near essential. 2.5?
This was a cool listen, although im not sure I am going to listen to their other albums at the moment. I liked Recover and Science/Visions the most. It made me think of neon lights and futuristic scenes, but a lot of the song sounded the same.
Captures the good vibes energy of the electro canon. Now only a little cold and blue. Not as washed out and bleak as those that followed. Some of the eviscerating honesty of this music in its moment has been lost and so the songs now need to stand on their own - which they do, just less proud 3.4
Low/mid 3. Strong start and surprisingly bjork influenced but nothing other than the first track really jumps out
Throwback to high school! This album still holds up after over a decade.
I thought I was never going to have heard any of this, then I got to the chorus of the first song and realized I knew it. I generally enjoyed this, it sits right on that 3/4 border for me but falls slightly on the wrong side of it.
Rating: 7/10 Obviously a lot has changed in the realms of synthpop since the release of the CVHRCHES debut so this album really serves as a time capsule to this moment when this particular sound was the sauce. Truly the mid 2010's millennial pop rock band in style that just uses electronics and drum machines. Almost every song hits for me until the last 3 tracks or so start to lose some steam. The first track is probably the best but my deep cut favorite is Recover
chvrches é legal mas cansa rápido né puta merda
ou, o emotion da carly rae jepsen realmente influenciou uma geração de artistas pop né. e o desgraçado do autor nem colocou na lista pqp mto burro dito isso, nn esperava chvrches por aqui. eh bacana, mas um pouco cansativo!! não eh mto natalino também
I liked the first few tracks and there's nothing offensive for sure, but it wasn't really special either
It's alright for some modern synthpop, but I don't see it lasting in music history.
I expected this to be more dated, but it actually holds up pretty well. I didn't really get into them at the time, as I thought they had blatantly ripped off Purity Ring's sound (who you should definitely check out if you like this). I still feel a hit like that, but there are a few really good songs on here so I can forgive them.
This one was hard to rate. I think there is some really good songwriting on this record. The singer is wonderful. But I really wanted to hear some of these songs without all the overdone electronic synths. In spots it works, but it gets tiring after a while. Give me some analog instruments! Overall, I’m going to go 3/5. A couple more dynamic changes and some reworking of the instrumentation would probably get me to a 4.
I thought I might enjoy this more but it just feels like Tswift edm.
A perfectly pleasant album with some decent tracks on there but, once again, is it really a must listen? It probably wasn’t even in a list of the top 50 albums from that year…
Another strange inclusion to this list. It’s not that this is a bad album per se, just one of many that was released and possibly somewhat popular at the time but was just of its time, with little enduring legacy. There are many other bands attempting the same synth revival (eg. Purity ring, Robyn, even the wknd) so at a loss as to why this is so much better than any of their peers.
Synth pop raises an element or trepedatiousness in me however it rated reasonably well on the toe-tapping scale. I would quite possibly listen to a couple of these again but potentially not all in on go. It’s probably about 2.5 stars but as it’s the season of goodwill, and I haven’t been to chvrch for a while, I’m going to round it up.
Someone introduced me to this album a long time ago, and I didn't enjoy it too much at the time. I thought the vocals sounded like a child, but between then and now I'm less bothered and it sounds like decent indie.
Not bad for that style
At its best, this is phenomenally catchy anthemic synth pop. Shame a couple of very ordinary tracks slightly spoil the mood.
While listening to this record I thought: I want more synth and less pop.
This was pretty decent for what it is. Enjoyable…
Although I became more of a fan of these guys with their second album, this one is still pretty solid. I remember hearing The Mother We Share and Recover across a number of mediums when they were released. Which makes sense as they are some of the obvious standouts. A lot of this does sound alike, but still..their take on 80s synth pop with a new edge provides a lot of good ear candy.
Listened to this album a fair amount when it came out. I liked it and thought this would be a high score. Still held up for me but not quite to the level I thought it would. Also a little tough for me and bands like this when I feel like they may have done some damage to the traditional rock band setup and dude is playing all the drums on a pad. Regardless, I still enjoyed it. 3.5
I checked a couple times to see if the M83 dude was guesting on some tracks. Forgot how similar they sound at some points. I am a big fan of Recover. Thought this may be a 4* going in but didn’t rise to that level. Started blending together. Still solid, tho. 3.5/5
Modern synth-pop with hooks for days. Crisp, clean with synth washes and pin point precise vocals. It could verge on lacking any emotion it's so well put together but it stays just on the right side of humanity. Best Tracks: The Mother We Share; Gun; Recover
Nichts Spezielles.
Decent pop music
It's ok but I don't get the hype
Pretty solid songs on here but suffers from the fact that they don't stray far from their single style
Helt greit, noe bra inni der
I remember reading about them, probably around the time of this release. The stylised spelling of ”Churches” was slightly annoying to me and I can’t remember actually hearing their music until today. Easy to listen to - doesn’t require much or challenge the listener in any way. Melodies are pretty good. Heavily influenced by 80’s synth pop. Not bad at all, but I believe I’ll forget about them soon. 3/5
Electro-pop. A complete project in terms of cohesiveness, but that cohesiveness also made it difficult to distinguish between songs, when not paying full attention. 3/5
Good and easy to listen to po-synth music that feels like I could have hear on the radio 10 years a go. I really enjoyed listening to it but it also feels like music I have heard before.
Seems chilled. Wouldn't skip... Wouldn't seek out
The Bones of What You Believe is a great example of an issue I have with the list's post-2000 additions. Feels all too often that the editors picked the most popular albums in a given genre / scene rather than the actual important or trailblazing works. CHVRCHES are not a bad band, I actually quite like a couple of their songs, but they are certainly one of the poppier examples of early 2010s synth pop. Why are they more notable than Crystal Castles, Grimes, or even the Knife? That aside, I do think there's some good stuff here. The Mother We Share is a great opener and I also really liked Lies. That said I think the album leans too heavily on big bombastic synth songs that get a bit samey.
Couldn't really buy into this. Also aware I may not have given it the attention it deserves. Too samey.
I was a bit hot and cold on this, at its best it was some well made pop music, at its worst it was some fairly generic sounding pop music.
Lovely synths, she has a pretty voice, don't know if there are many memorable tracks past the opener
There’s not much to say about this. It’s fine. Some songs I already forgot about but others have cool atmospheric feel. I imagine this is what guys who play soccer listen to.
Very fun electronic/alt-rock record. Plenty of synth and digital instrumentation, paired with poppy, upbeat rhythms and ambiance. This has a feel-good mood throughout and keeps a good groove. Not my first exposure to CHVRCHES, but first full album - I dig it.
jaja, det funkar väl. det är rätt så kul. alla låtar låter på pricken lika dant men det är faktiskt ändå ganska bra. minst två låtar för långt dock.
Some high points
Enjoyed the synths
This was a nostalgic pull. I remember being on Tumblr when CHVRCHES released this record, Gun and The Mother We Share were on repeat. All in all, this is a decent pop album! It is punchy, energetic for most of the listen, and has quirky synths to serve as ear candy. The album had a strong start and had lows (mostly the slow tracks). I'm teetering between a 3 and a 4, but ultimately landed on a 3 because I have to be in a very specific mood to listen to this album again. However, I enjoyed my listen and revisiting my angsty teen days.
I'll Be A Thorn In Your Side 1001 Albums Generator 154 (11/04/2025) CHVRCHES' debut album, The Bones Of What You Believe, is a pretty good piece of synthpop. The first half is very good and has a lot of energy, while the second half is more inconsistent and vibey. I think the vibeyness works on songs like the closer, You Caught The Light, but not so much on songs like Recover. However, the production on this album is consistently good; the sampled and chopped up vocals throughout are my absolute favorite. Lungs also has some interesting industrial-esque elements. Also, the vocalist sounds so good. She kind of reminds me of early Lorde, which is definitely a good thing. Overall, The Bones Of What You Believe impressed me, but has its weaknesses. 3.5/5, rounded down to a 3. Favs: The Mother We Share We Sink You Caught The Light Least Fav: Recover
This started off alright, but then all of the songs sounded the same to me.
This album strikes me as a collection of tolerable songs, with one or two tracks that are decently enjoyable listens. I'll readily admit a pre-existing bias against electronic music coming into this, and this album unfortunately didn't change my perspective on that. Too many of the effects used to break up synth-induced monotony just became annoying more than anything. I would probably appreciate it more if they were used to supplement more traditional instrumentation, or if they were prominent on a more limited set of songs. Some songs, like The Mother We Share, are pretty infectiously catchy. This might be a case of me coming to this genre a decade too late, but some of the vocal intonations (e.g. the oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh hook on The Mother We Share) were inescapable in my college years to the point that they were beaten to death. Points to CHVRCHES if they were the first to do it, though it's not a trend I look back on fondly. As the album continued, I noticed that my attention just started to drift. With the dance oriented nature of the music, I could imagine that the band intended for the songs to have a "groove" that sets in, but to me most of the songs just felt repetitive with the same synth riff(?) repeating ad infinitum. There are plenty of riff-driven songs from other bands that succeed in reaching the looping state that they were going for on this album, but I can't quite put my finger on what prevents these songs from reaching that point. Maybe it's the instrumentation, or lack thereof? I'm pretty unfamiliar with synth pop generally, and while I tried to go in with an open mind, this album just doesn't do much for me. There were some songs, especially early in the album, that had nice energy and the 80s synth feel was fun on some tracks, but this isn't anything that I would want to listen to without someone prompting me.
I have no strong opinions either way on this album. Cocteau Twins for millennials.
Wow this album took me back to being 23 and the ski condo I rented with friends where we’d sit around in a circle and do poppers. I was also hooking up with a DJ named Quincy Dancer 😂. I snowboarded to the song Recover a lot. Wow. What a time. I don’t think I like this that much anymore, though I did listed to Tether a few times on a walk yesterday
I missed this as a thing in 2013 and maybe it would have been a good fit for my last-year-of-law-school-taking-the-bar-in-love-with-a-someone-who-pees-in-a-yogurt-container-being-lonely-in-the-east-village year, but for a first listen now it was just pretty much just ok?
A bit staid after a while but overall very good and listenable. 2nd Glasgow album in 2 days 😎
Sounds like if COIN and Lorde had a religious optimistic love child.
I think I may have gotten these guys mixed up with Crosses. This is way more on the poppier side than I had thought they were. Like this floats in the Taylor Swift category. So yes, this is pure pop with hints of 80’s style synth. It’s a little too intelligent for pure 80’s music. I’m not sure what the hype is about these guys or girls I guess. It’s not terrible. If T Swift was a 5 and Sade was a 1, this would be a 3.5 If Radiohead was a 5 and Green Day was a 1, it’d be a 3.5 Get it? Choice cut: Lies
no comment
Honestly I kind of like the synth pop nature of this album . I don't think they really push a lot of boundaries in the genre either but it is a nice energetic listen. (7.3) ★★★½ I also think I like their 2018 album *Love Is Dead* slightly better... That's a higher 3½
3.5
There's nothing obviously wrong with this, but my hipster lenses also prevent me from seeing what merits its inclusion on this list. Every song starts out great, then quickly had me wishing we could move on to the next.
3.5/5 Bastante pop y entretenido, pero solo algunas canciones las volvería a escuchar
Years after the rise of Chvrches (at least among my social circle), I'm listening to The Bones of What You Believe and recalling the songs that my friends played trying to get me into them. It's only that I like my synth-pop in limited quantities, and that container is already full. And yet this is an immediately likable representation of its genre — I don't have any complaints for what it is. That's the thing you have to ask yourself after the first track: is this what I want?
the singer is really good, but i only like a very specific type of synth-dominated music, which shines in "lungs", but of the rest, some are decent like "we sink", "tether" "under the tide" and "recover" the mother we share: 72/100 - like the theming we sink: 73/100 - also like the theming gun: 45/100 - just don't care for it at all, skipped it halfway through tether: 74/100 - singer works really well with this slower but intense melody, dont like the instrumental synth part as although the melody is good i think it would've worked better if it was dominated by the guitar and drums, but overall pretty solid lies: 30/100 - its honestly worse than gun, really don't like this even though it has some instrumental similarities to tether under the tide: 77/100 - this singer is just ok, but i genuienely enjoyed this, not too much else to say recover: 66/100 - also not much to say, its alright night sky: 68/100 - didn't realize until this track, but the simple lyrics work incredibly with the singer, solid track science/visions: 50/100 - whatever, honestly was actively forgetting what happened earlier in the song while i was listening lungs: 88/100 - genuienely loved this one, everything good from the tracks preciding is consolidated here, like the backing vocals in "science/visions", the simple lyrics in "night sky", etc. love the synths here too which i don't think i've ever said about a track by the throat: 74/100 - honestly a lot of what i said about lungs i also enjoyed here but to a lesser degree you caught the light: 79/100 - great finisher, but the intro is a bit too long for my tastes
This was alright, some really nice synth sounds and her vocals are cool... But it was a lot, there wasn't much in the way of dynamics and I felt some of the interesting synth parts didn't have space to breath because of it. I think if it was a bit more stripped back on places the differences in the tracks would have stood out more, but as it is I found it hard to pick them apart. As an individual track I think I'd like these, but as an album it felt pretty samey.
Some good tracks
Flat
Synthpop is my jam always but I enjoyed how well they captured the 80s vibe and at times were adding what sounded like dub step influence
Nice sounding Synth-pop album, she has a nice sounding voice
I'm not that far into listening to the albums, but of all the albums I've been given this is the one I have the hardest time understanding why it is essential to listen to. It seems like good synth pop, but it is pretty unremarkable. I appreciate that they brought forward the sounds of the 80s into 2010 pop, and maybe that's the simple reason they are here - this album as an archetype of that particular moment in music. Completely listenable, but altogether pretty just...fine.
Strange giving Netflix show Musik aber nicht schlecht wundert mich das es bei 1001 dabei ist kann man sich geben aber nicht ganz mein Geschmack Best song: The Mother we share Rating 3,6
It's fine synth/electro-pop, but I just have never been able to get into Chvrches or understand how highly they are rated by others. I don't think the hooks are strong enough or the music stand out quite enough or the songs being unique enough from each other or other music out there.
Strange mixture of the awful and the awesome.
Good. Then long.
The Good: We are not limited to one Chvrch! The Bad: We don’t understand why… The Ugly: Having your believes be compared to a femur… Okay, so the above is silly, and makes little sense… kind of like this album being part of the 1001 list. Then again, it wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t great either… and here I sit, realizing that it just is all about believing, and bones, and chrvches… I will say this, for now, and I’m over 500 albums into this list, I will argue that this is my favorite 2010+ album, so there’s that! 3*
One of the most pop sounding albums I have encountered on this list. It isn't really my thing. But even I can hear that it is very well made and the musicallity is definitely there.
This was ok, I mean like it could’ve been worse but it was really samey and super poppy and I didn’t particularly care for it. It was an ok album
Kinda sounds like something I should dislike because I think a lot of electro-pop from that era has aged really badly but I have to admit that this is well done and just a good time. Uplifting, fun, anthemic, but maybe better in small doses because it does get kinda tiring. The songs are good individually but doesn't work that well as an album.
Quite different from what we have heard before here. Lots of the songs sounded the same but I liked the sounds and vocals.
Qualifies for the category of better than expected
Went from Gary Numan to this. The evolution of Synthpop. The Mother We Share is the best song on the album. It's feels overly long and got a bit samey towards the end. 3/5.
Good listen - 3/5
Synth-pop is pretty hard to hate. Well-crafted bops with an absolute angel of a voice by Lauren Mayberry’s which I fell in love with. Something about the soft, fragile, little singer fronting such a wall of sound that works really well. I liked the album. It was fun, upbeat, introspective and well crafted.
joa ganz nett
i usually love slutty synth pop but this was a lil too slutty
This is pretty good overall. It IS overlong, and it does start to feel a bit samey at times, but then a decent, upbeat track will hit and I'll be more on-side again - or a track will land with a different kind of energy or atmosphere to it. There's some decent synths and soundscapes in here. 3.5 rounded down.
Fun and energetic album.
Nice, very even, indie-synthpop album. Certain songs are quite good, though listening to them in album form, can start to feel rather "same-y" after a while.
Enkelte greie melodier. Likte ikke innpakningen.
Kinda reminds me of Paramore.
Начало очень даже бодрое, ближе к концу больше медленных песен и от музыки уже устаёшь. 6 из 10.
Never listened to this band before, and while the genre isn’t really in my wheelhouse, this is so exceptionally executed that it gets a solid thumbs up even if I’m unlikely to ever spin it again. This is arena filling electronic pop with huge melodies and hooks it’s impossible not to have worm their way into your brain. Fun record
Not bad, the first song is definitely the best. The album has a nice sound overall.
This album started out strong: I like synth-pop, I like the singer's voice, the songs are catchy enough in that way that the more ambient-sounding T Swift songs sound. Now I'm on track 6 and I feel like this should be over already. I'll power through, but my attention span is not built for this type of music.
Can confirm that this was a hit in Belgium. So maybe it's something in our waffles that makes us predisposed to indie electronica from scotland. The lyrics are very clear in the mix which helps with making it get something of an anthem vibe.
I enjoyed this a good bit, it can start to get samey after awhile. Standout track for me was Lies. The Mother We Share was the one song I was familiar with before listening this time.
Interesting listen. A lot of the songs start to blend together as the album goes on, but i really enjoyed the production quality. The electronica melodies are infectious and the performances are solid. Wouldn't hate hearing some of the bigger songs on the radio. Top tracks: Gun, Lies, Recover
I see what they are going for. It's pop, edm, rock, all softly done and it's fairly catchy. Just would prefer if they lost one of the tags or leaned more on one than the other to give the band more identity.
This one's cute, interesting, not in a bad way. Idk what it is but it reminds me of a mellow version of The xx. Science/Visions was quite good out of them all
It was a nice listen to, nothing stood put as ground breaking but I relaxed to the vibes
From what I had heard from radio play I did not think I would like this album as much as I did. It is a liitle more pop sounding than is my taste but it has a lot soulfulness for a mostly synth-pop album. The singer's voice is captivating in a waifish kind of way and the arrangements quite nice. Lots of hooks as well and a good sense of melody. My issue with this kind of music is none of those melodies stay with me after the listening session is over. 3.5 stars
I do like the CHVRCHES sound, but blown me down with a feather if it isn't sonically identical across the entire record. I guess that's the aesthetic they were going for. Quite middle-of-the-road in songwriting too. Lovely Scottish vocals though. Favourite tracks: The Mother We Share, Gun, Tether, Recover, Night Sky.
Definitely not the kind of thing I prefer to listen to. But, it wasn't horrible and didn't offend my senses.
Surprising good.
Listenable but does not merit to be on this top list.
Great!
Good. College dance party vibes. Too relentlessly positive for me, tho.
Man I loved this record when it came out. Looooooved it. Was still in the first half of my twenties, which is the absolute perfect stage of life to enjoy this album and ones like it. Made me feel like running, driving at night, crying on the phone, laughing with friends, etc etc; essentially this album, to me, is the sound of youth. Now that I’m aging and significantly more bitter, I can still detect all that when I listen, but it’s just not the same. Why is the sound so muddy, even in the remastered version? Aren’t the melodies and lyrics a little cliche? Don’t the songs kinda sound the same a lot of the time? Of course part of this could be because IMO they never reached beyond this record. The album after this is also quite good but it’s a lateral move, not progression. And what came after that isn’t really worth mentioning (except for that one song that features Robert Smith, which is cool). This album has a spark to it. It’s bright and attention getting and it can open your heart. The only problem is, it’s temporary and will burn out at some point.
First track a banger, but really started to mesh together. Wish there was more variety.
Cool at the start. Smart electronic but then it spiraled into the same thing over and over.
Generally really catchy, but vocals began to grate a bit towards the end
6/10 not really a fan of this genre, but I guess it was well made it certainly takes talent to make music like this even if I don’t really appreciate it
I have never understood what ‘minor key’ means, but the vocals on this album sound like what I imagine it to mean. I like it, but it needs dialling up a bit.
Not my jam but it was a decent listen.
I'd be happy enough to watch this band down the bill at a festival but it never really truly excites me. Lyrics and music are fine but the vocals are a little too twee in their delivery.
Curioso que el primer álbum que me recomienda es de una banda que vi en directo como teloneros de Coldplay en Barcelona. Buen disco electro-pop con mucho sintetizador. Le doy un 7/10.
A serviceable Ladyhawke knockoff synth album. I wish the lead singer of Churches were a bit kinder and did not criticize men quite so much in her personal life. It is a bit of a disincentive to enjoy the band. I don't mind the spelling. I presume in today's search keyword culture it was probably chosen to make it easier to find the band on streaming services, etc. I thought the strongest of the tracks was "Science/Visions". There are bands and albums from the 2010s electronic, dance, and synth pop categories that I were more impactful and relevant for representing that time period. I would cut from this list Hot Chip, Churches, and Hookworms and replace them with albums from below. Gary Numan SAVAGE (2017) Ladyhawke WILD THINGS (2016) Walk the Moon TALKING IS HARD (2014) awolnation HERE COME THE RUNTS (2017) awolnation MEGALITHIC SYMPHONY (2010) The Glitch Mob LOVE DEATH IMMORTALITY (2014) The Glitch Mob SEE WITHOUT EYES (2018) Skrillex BANGRANG (2011) Van She IDEA OF HAPPINESS (2012) Daft Punk RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES (2013) Portugal. The Man WOODSTOCK (2017) Carly Rae Jepsen EMOTION (2015) Walk the Moon WHAT IF NOTHING (2017)
Considering I'm not a fan of most synth pop, this album was actually something that I enjoyed the experience of listening to. I'll likely never own it but I'd definitely be ok with hearing it again sometime.
I'd happily put half of this album on a playlist and listen to it occasionally. Close enough to the music I like to be enjoyable once in a while.
Fun beat, just not my sound
Really nice vibe to this album
First song is a banger
Another good unknown that I will be adding to my listens
Recuerdo cuando lo escuchaba de adolescente y me gustaba mucho. Aun así, considero que tienen discos mejores. Ahora si escucho más de tres canciones seguidas me duele la cabeza, me hago mayor.
This album has the same vibe as a lot of ‘essential’ indie music from the early 2010s. This album was okay, It’s not my usual cup of tea as I’m not the biggest fan of this type of synth pop. I think even though there’s variation between the tracks, their foundation is still all synths and a driving, boom clap drum beat, it gets a bit stale once you’re about half way through. There are some highlights, I like the glitchy vocal sample on Gun and the atmosphere and distortion on You Caught The Light is nice too. Fav tracks - Gun - You Caught The Light
Favorite track: the mother we share other picks: gun, lies, tether, recover
Was inoffensive but also not very interesting.
Realmente um disco lançado em 2013. Tem uma vibe de filtro amarelado do instagram, comprar roupas na forever 21 e reblogar coisas no Tumblr
Synth-Pop / ElectroPop / Dance-Pop. Quite catchy, but it doesn't really do much for me - it doesn't really grab my attention.
Well that was a decent way to kick off the 2nd half of this 1,001 list. It’s what I’m here for. An artist I’d kind of heard of but couldn’t place. Maybe it was the wanky use of a “v” instead of a “u” that made my mind up to avoid them. It’s also not my genre at all being so synth and pop based. However, sat alone on a train with earphones on gave it a platform to present itself to me. And despite all of my preconceptions it delivered a pretty decent listening experience. Not all the way through, but in places they created a nice atmospheric set of songs.
There might be a time when this is exactly what I want to hear, and if I was at your house and you put this on, I would respect your taste. Not my bread and butter, though.
No lo escucharía de nuevo
I have a soft spot for retro 80's synth pop. Have heard a few Chvches singles over the year - but never a whole album in one sitting - and I think its something best enjoyed in small doses as there is not much variation in the album and they tend to blur into one which diminishes the impact. Fav track: Recover. I'm a borderline 3 /4 - will give it a 4 as 1) the sun is shining and 2) for being Scottish.
She has a great voice, but the songs all kind of blend into one another .... the first 10 songs sounded like a europop jam album ..lol. Dont get me wrong, its not bad, at all. But I dont see myself adding this to any playlists
Good songs but bland overall
That was pleasant. Wouldn't say it's must listen to before you die but it's a lot better than the plethora of '90s electronica tedium that constantly appears in this list.
Good, but not great.
Moderne synthpop, elektronisk, kraftig vokal
Pretty mid 3.1
I love some good synth wave, this is middle of the road synth wave.
Sounded familiar.