Come on, it's not bad at all!
Simone Oltolina | Morbio Inferiore, TI Switzerland | 04/05/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The guy above is being a bit too drastic! The problem, I guess, is that January haven been over-hyped. They've been heralded as Poptones' first-big-thing and given that Poptones was a cult label even before it came to existence, expectations ran a bit too high. January won't probably end in one of those polls listing the best records of the year but they're not bad either. In fact this album is totally enjoyable! Given that they're much talked about, people have used a wide variety of terms of comparison, most of which are simply ridiculous... My bloody valentine? ok, maybe there's a pinch of them somewhere but they don't appear to be their main influence (aka, this is not a shoegazer album by any stretch of the imagination). I'd rather say that they belong to the N.M.A (New Acoustic Movement) canon. Some say that they sound a bit like Mojave 3 with a pinch of psychedelia and distortion throughout. The best definition of what you'll find inside is the one given by the official review "pastoral guitar pop with tasteful clouds of distortion"."
A Poptones gem
whoopycat | Des Moines, IA United States | 07/28/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The comparisons out there are pretty accurate. January can be looked at as say, a Belle & Sebastian with more rock bite, or a My Bloody Valentine with softer edges. The guitars also recall echoes of Ride, Crazy Horse, and Built To Spill. But influences aside, this is a great debut album, as well as one of the best albums of the year."
A good record
tbrady | Philadelphia, USA | 12/05/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I listened to this cd nearly every day over the summer. Made me wish I had a hammock. Anyway, this record came to me very highly recommended. I think it is good, but couldn't possibly live up to what I'd heard about it. Mostly its a kind of mellow British pop stuff, but its interesting and the songs tend to build in a way that most 'pop' does not. Also, the songs tend to be rather long (6 minutes in some cases). I've heard comparisons to My Bloody Valentine, but I think the 2 bands share only a little in common. January are less noisy, more tuneful, more accessible, and a bit happier sounding."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1