Search - Six By Seven :: Closer You Get

Mayhem and majesty

Dave Ehrlich | los angeles, CA | 04/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"with this, their second album, england's SIX BY SEVEN up the volume, the emotion and the intensity level even more. where they seemed content to simmer before ('european me' from their debut LP, 'the things we make', for instance), this outing finds singer chris olley snarling bloody murder while the band lurches into white-noise meltdown mode behind him. there's really no way to describe the one-two punch of 'don't wanna stop' juggernauting into the roaring 'slab square'...you just have to turn it up (to 11, please) and let it hit you. the band shows that they're just as focused and devastating on the album's quieter moments as well; 'england and a broken radio' ebbs and flows with a hypnotic intensity all its' own. imagine radiohead snarflin' the steroids down and you might just have some small idea of the scope, passion and power of this excellent album...a serious contender for 2000's best thus far."

Five by Seven

Sam Lewis | 07/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Six by Seven are one of the brightest sparks in British music for some time, something which their second album "The Closer You Get" easily shows. Whilst the first album had good songs and promising signs it never really captured the raw power of Six by Seven live. "Eat Junk Become Junk" is a screaming dirty rampage of a song setting the tone for the whole album which makes you stop and listen. Just when you think the pace has dropped they'll launch something like "Slab Square" at you to knock you off your feet. How long can Six by Seven knock on the UK's and USA's door before somebody will listen?"

New Millennium Dreampop

WrtnWrd | Northridge, CA USA | 08/20/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The problem with early-to-mid 90s dreampop was, mesmerizing as those sonic explorations were, the music was emotionally distant. You responded intellectually, enjoying the triumph of melody over noise. In some cases, you'd learn to love it - Sonic Youth's A Thousand Leaves and My Bloody Valentine's Loveless are highwater marks - but most of it was more trouble than pleasure (Spacemen 3 and others I can't recall). Six by Seven traffic in new millennium dreampop, but they make a deep, hard rocking impression. The Closer You Get, their second release, betters their first with varied tempos, sharper songs, more orchestrated clatter. Two songs are genre masterpieces: the gothic "Ten Places to Die", the roiling "My Life Is an Accident". When they can't get their songwriting in order, they do the next best thing: they rave, which usually counts for something."