The Ugly People Vs. the Beautiful People

SIMON RAYMONDE OF THE COCTEAU TWINS. Although The Czars have garnered comparisons to many of the musical staples of today and yesterday, none can truly capture the essence of a band that is more interested in working within itself than emulating those whose influence they draw upon. It is as if the words were meant for the voice and the voice were meant for the music. Don't be fooled by this comfortable marriage - it's like your favorite holey, stained sweater straight from the dryer, full of static electricity. "Hard to think of another band - save, perhaps, Mercury Rev - who can match The Czars for power, gravity and grace. A quantum leap from the sparse elegance of last year's *Before... But Longer*, this is a lush, deep, spacey record that hits like another blow on a bruise.. Gorgeous and unforgiving in equal measure." - MOJO "Relentlessly lovelorn and aching, and shot through with the widescreen vision of the High Llamas, layered harmonies glide over swirling steel guitar and funereal piano to create a delicately haunting, gossamer-thin expression of shredded emotion. I get the feeling this is what Travis are aiming at, but this is an album only an American could create, aimed straight at the heart." - The Observer (London) "Late Sixties West Coast pop classicism is warped by subtleties of instrumentation, time signature, texture; Grant's voice, with elements of Drake and Buckley, meanwhile carries a sensibility of sardonically relished melancholy, errant lovers sending his soul to the slaughterhouse." - UNCUT