Neutral Milk Hotel On Avery Island (180GV)

"...Neutral Milk Hotel dress up the usual shambles pop with sad trombones, cartoony organ, 'various Indonesian instruments,' and primitive loops; Jeff Mangum's choirboy vocals go out on long rambles and get giddily lost in sibilants..."
3 Stars (out of 5) - "...a world of stimulant-conducive sensoria, stuffed with keyboard drones, fuzzed guitars, nasal vocals, where-is-my-mind lyricism hitched to a whooshing acid electronica..."
4 stars out of 5 -- "NMH here plough a sweet yet decidedly experimental furrow of psychpop, art/drone rock and leftfield electronica..."
4 stars out of 5 -- "NMH are dedicated to all things heroically lo-fi, fuzz-encrusted and opaquely sprawling....Compelling personal songs..."
"[T]he punk/psych songs were fully developed, beautiful and strange."
Village Voice (2/25/97) - Ranked #35 in the Village Voice's 1996 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.
"[A]n epic, sometimes psychedelic cacophony....It's eclectic tastes and broad horizons on a budget..."
3 stars out of 5 -- "[A]lternately fast and slow, lo-fi and lavish....There's an elegiac swoon on 'Where You'll Find Me Now'."
3 stars out of 5 -- "Opener 'Song Against Sex' is a folk rock protest played with riotous gusto on buzzing acoustics, Mangum's gift for enigmatic lyrical intrigue and his impassioned holler played to the fore."
8 (out of 10) - "...Jazzbos may have made the US underground their very own this year but with ON AVERY ISLAND, lead Hotelier Jeff Magnum harbours far more populist plans....Neutral Milk Hotel have done that which is unheard of in these chin-stroking times: released a toe-tapping hook-laden, honest-to-God pop album..."