Throw Me The Statue
Creaturesque
Release Date: Aug 4, 2009
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: Secretly Canadian
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Album Review: Creaturesque by Throw Me The Statue
Very Good, Based on 6 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
Throw Me the Statue's second full-length is custom-made for this summer: hope-filled sunny days arrive, are clouded over, then rained on. Now repeat. [rssbreak] The record's lo-fi pop (think Band of Horses) conjures frisbees flying around the members of Weezer as they tickle baby animals. And like a casual disc flip in a breezy park, you can't just wind up and blast that sucker at your target.
Based on rating 7.9/10
Band's sophomore effort is full of lifeThe expression "quarter-life crisis" gets thrown around pretty liberally these days (it even has its own Wikipedia entry), and is as often a point of contention as it is a reassurance for the demographic it supposedly affects. With their second full-length, Creaturesqueproducer Phil Ek (Built to Spill, The Shins), the band captures the odd we're-young-but-wish-we-were-younger nostalgia of the so-called crisis while still creating an album that will appeal to an audience outside the twentysomething set. .
Based on rating 7/10
In the two years or so since their debut's initial self-release, Throw Me the Statue have grown from a one-man home-recording project to a full-fledged rock band. But don't expect a radically revamped sound with album number two: Creaturesque might be slightly more assured and fuller-sounding than the amiably scrappy Moonbeams (credit in part the contributions of Northwest indie rock super-producer Phil Ek), but TMTS have hardly lost their meandering mid-fi charms. Their sunny, lushly layered off-kilter pop songs still boast plenty of tinny drum machines, synth organs, jangly acoustic strumming, occasional bits of trumpet and glockenspiel, and of course Scott Reitherman's blithely casual singing and obliquely evocative lyrics.
Based on rating 7/10
Seattle’s Throw Me The Statue remind me of a friend of mine, this attractive, clever, funny girl who for whatever reason gets overwhelmed and freaked out by the idea of going to a houseparty. They’re a fun band with clever lyrics and some infectious beats, but something like a crippling shyness seems to overcome them and hinders their ability to really make a lasting impression. Scott Rietherman’s lyrics are often sharp, but his vocals are so understated, so anxious not to offend, that they slip by unnoticed.
Based on rating 6.1/10
Shucks. I've been expecting a lot from Throw Me the Statue after Moonbeams, their springy, surprisingly durable 2007 debut, and now I hope I haven't just been waiting for a star to fall. "Lolita" and "About to Walk" were killer indie pop singles, and "Your Girlfriend's Car" and the title track and a few others held up pretty damn well. I didn't get what I was looking for in this year's Purpleface EP, a bland collection of warmed-over slow burners and leftovers, and I'm sorry to say I can't find it here in Creaturesque, their sophomore set.
Opinion: Very Good
Throw Me The Statue is officially a band, now that the project has grown from the one-man bedroom-pop stylings of Scott Reitherman to include drummer Jarred Grimes and multi-instrumentalists Aaron Goldman and Charlie Smith. And, while the production work of Phil Ek (The Shins, Built To Spill, Band Of Horses) has helped integrate the new players and enhance the sound, this sophomore effort still contains a lot of the quirky charm of it’s predecessor, Moonbeams. But there is a duality of sorts at play on Creaturesque.