Archers of Loaf Icky Mettle (Color Vinyl)

4.5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]hey perfected the genre moves: bracing attack, two-guitar blurs of dissonance and beauty, [and] a sympathetic barker..."
Ranked #10 in Rolling Stone's '10 Best Reissues Of 2011' -- "Remember alt-rock this way, and learn from it."
"In retrospect, 1993's ICKY METTLE -- an album of boyish fits and noisy guitar flurries -- plays like the end of an era."
"[A] holy grail of lovely, rumpled passion." -- Grade: A
4 stars out of 5 -- "Bachmann's Jagger-esque drawl perfectly matches the slacker-punk vibe of absurd, crowd-participation favourite 'Toast'..."
"ICKY METTLE straddled the line between Pavement's brainy esoterica and Superchunk's guitar blitzkrieg."
"...North Carolina's Archers Of Loaf are the latest to join Pavement, Trumans Water and The Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 in the persuit of a deceptively haphazard, quite perfectly scrambled pop-logic...."
7 - Very Good - "...a sturdy debut stacked with misfit fury and restless demons...."
5 stars out of 5 -- "Noisy yet melancholy, abrasive yet gentle, abstract yet incisive...full of musical and lyrical tensions that highlight the paradoxical and provocative stylings of this incredibly talented, original and influential band."