Critics give Slow Focus a B-Side Breakdown of 76 (C), from 10 reviews at outlets we track. Scores run 40 to 88.
The verdict on Slow Focus
Most critics liked it: 8 of 10 liked it.
- Highest 88 The A.V. Club
- Outlier 40 Tiny Mix Tapes, 20 points below the next-lowest score
| The gist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The A.V. Club via Wikipediaby Adam Kivel | B+ | 88 | 2013 | |
| Pitchfork via Wikipediaby Jayson Greene | 8.7/10 | 87 | 2013 | “On Slow Focus, Fuck Buttons' first album in four years, Ben Power and Andy Hung remain devoted to forbidding, elemental sensations. Their slow-moving pieces inspire the kinds of big feelings…” |
| Uncut via Wikipedia | 8/10 | 80 | 2013 | |
| Spin via Wikipediaby Philip Sherburne | 8/10 | 80 | 2013 | “8SPIN Rating: 8 of 10Release Date: July 24, 2013Label: ATPThe line between the dance floor and the void has rarely felt more porous than in 2013, a year” |
| Q via Wikipedia | 4/5 | 80 | 2013 | |
| NME via Wikipediaby Noel Gardner | 8/10 | 80 | 2013 | “There have been noise acts in the past who have achieved some degree of commercial success, and there will be plenty more in the future. But the career arc of…” |
| The Independent via Wikipediaby Simon Price | 4/5 | 80 | 2013 | “Fuck Buttons are the band whose name no one dare speak but whose music, thanks to Danny Boyle's Olympics opening ceremony, everyone has now heard.” |
| The Guardian via Wikipediaby Alexis Petridis | 4/5 | 80 | 2013 | “The Bristol duo's third album repeats their impressive trick of making music that's both euphoric and apocalyptic, writes Alexis Petridis” |
| Rolling Stone via Wikipediaby Mike Powell | 3/5 | 60 | 2013 | “Check out our album review of Artist's Slow Focus on Rolling Stone.com.” |
| Tiny Mix Tapes via Wikipediaby Ezra Elliott | 2/5 | 40 | “As a lover and critic of music (in that order), my immediate response to a new piece is typically immersive, visceral, emotional, and unmediated by outside sources — the experience…” |
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More Electronic from around 2013
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How the Breakdown works
Every outlet’s score is converted to 0–100 (2/5 is 40, 5.9/10 is 59, a B+ is 88) and averaged. Grades follow the B-Side scale: A is 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60. Approval is the share of critics who scored it 75 or higher; the Breakdown shows green at 75 and up, red below. Divisiveness asks a different question: not how many critics liked it, but how close their scores are to each other. Five critics who all give it 50 are Unanimous, even though none of them liked it. The labels run Unanimous, Broad agreement, Some debate, Divided, and Contentious. Replay rate comes from listeners, not critics: yes counts fully, a few tracks counts half, no counts zero. The gist quotes each outlet’s own summary of its review. Published is the date on the review itself, read from the outlet’s page, so you can see whether an album’s reputation came at release or years later. Scores marked est. come from reviews that publish no number. Scores marked via Wikipedia are archive ratings, mostly for older albums, taken from the “Professional ratings” box on the album’s Wikipedia page (published openly through Wikidata); each links to the original review when we can find it online, and to that Wikipedia entry when we can’t. When an outlet reviewed an album twice, years apart (often for a reissue), both scores count, each labeled with its year.
A-Side marks the critics’ top tier. An album earns it automatically, from its numbers alone: a Breakdown of 90 or higher, from at least 5 reviews, with at least 75% approval. Nobody hands it out and nobody can buy it; if new reviews pull an album below the line, it loses the badge.
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