★★★★★
On their debut album (2011's It's a Corporate World), Detroit electro-pop duo Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. showed us their strong suit: taking ever-present, convoluted social ideas and ideals and deconstructing them with an open-ended wit that came off as purely thoughtful rather than misguidedly arrogant. The handful of dominant tracks had serious zing, but came off as unpretentious. This time, with The Speed of Things, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr...
- www.popmatters.com
2013-10-23
★★★★★
Tweet Happy Reprise The band that brought you perhaps the more earnest indie cover of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" is back for their second lap around a genre mostly steeped in distant emotions and cool facades. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. is unrelentingly sincere, as seen with opening track and reprise "Beautiful Dream." You're essentially starting your day with ethereal croons of just how lovely the non-waking world may be...
- www.mxdwn.com
2013-10-16
★★★★★
DALE EARNHARDT JR. JR. - The Speed of Things
Album:
The Speed of Things
Artist: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Label: Warner Bros.
Release Date: October 08, 2013
www.warnerbrosrecords.com
BY LEE ZIMMERMAN
Although their recording career is just barely two years old, boasting only one previous album and an EP so far, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr...
- blurtonline.com
2013-10-10
★★★★★
?????????? The problem with The Speed of Things is not so much in how it sounds. For all intents and purposes, it is the sort of album that fans of electro pop and '80s-era pop should have no trouble enjoying. There are definitely moments where you can dance to some of the songs and enjoy the explosion of synthesizers and beat machine sounds that fill the album's various spaces...
- www.glidemagazine.com
2013-10-09
★★★★★
Even if The Speed of Things was an unmitigated disaster for the majority of its 13 tracks, the Detroit pop duo would still have managed to deliver one of the best songs of the year with their hook-laden single "If You Didn't See Me (Then You Weren't on the Dancefloor)." Fortunately, Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott's latest effort fires on all cylinders throughout (pun intended), continuing their successful blend of modern electronics and a Beach Boys approach to melody and vocal harmony.
- filtermagazine.com
2013-10-10
★★★★★
We're all familiar with the enigmatic struggle of sophomore albums. There is an unfair expectation for a band to stick to what they know--or, more accurately, what we know--and also the need to expand to new horizons and stretch the boundaries. But can't it just be okay to keep being good? Is there a happy medium where we can reward consistency, as long as it's not boring? Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr...
- www.undertheradarmag.com
2013-10-09
★★★★★
Originally calling their blossoming music collaboration Counting Crows Pt. 2, Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott promptly changed the name after a friend sarcastically suggested that Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. would be a good choice. Never taking themselves too seriously, the Detroit duo employs their carefree nature and sense of humor to craft infectiously fun indie pop songs. Their first full-length, It's A Corporate World , established their ear for saccharine hooks and expert pop songwriting...
- consequenceofsound.net
2013-10-09
★★★★★
Sophomore efforts are tricky. As a complete package, they come with a great deal of pressure and are often pitched as the make-or-break moment in a band's trajectory--the point at which they capitalize on their strengths, evolve and expand their sound, switch things up entirely or continue with business as usual and remain either solid or stagnant (depending on how the debut was received). Perhaps unfairly, it sometimes results in steadfast validation or vilification...
- www.pastemagazine.com
2013-10-11
★★★★★
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., unusually unmotorized for a Metro Detroit band, despite their name, seem ambivalent about getting their groove on. "You're supposed to surrender to the bass," they lackadaisically observe in "If You Didn't See Me (Then You Weren't on the Dancefloor)." "You're supposed to roll your hips in time." But they sound skeptical, and their Vampire Weekend Lite take on Afro-Caribbean rhythm throughout feels equally unsure...
- www.rollingstone.com
2013-10-08
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