Let's Build A Fire is one of those records that breeds obsession. With its mind-blowing dynamics and wounded memories, bandaged up in affecting, mature lyrics that dissect relationships with a therapist's perspective, the wisdom of hindsight and an artist's touch, Let's Build A Fire is almost flawless. Maybe it doesn't reinvent the wheel, but its treadlife will last for miles and miles and never blow out.  Full text...

It’s not like Let’s Build a Fire is a wild change from the band’s two previous albums. If anything, it’s a reduction of the chaotic noise and heavily-layered effects of You Are Here. The dizzying melodramatics of the band’s previous work has been redacted, leaving behind a comparatively straight-forward rock record.  Full text...

Fire is still as fundamentally wan as its +/- predecessors, though, and in some ways the clearer, more aggressive sound only exposes Baluyut and Ramos' weaknesses as songwriters and performers.  Full text...

The title track opens the album in a way that might confuse some listeners. With a crackle of a dropped record needle, the resulting static and old-time horns begins, before resulting in a fuller explosion of sound during the second verse. This track tells the story of the rest of the album. In it, you hear James Baluyut's spectacular voice, backed by his and Patrick Ramos' intense guitar harmonies and the absolutely sick drumming of Chris Deaner.  Full text...

On Let's Build a Fire, +/- take way more cues from the heart than brain, sacrificing technical exploration for good ol' fashioned, bare-boned emoting. So yeah, consider them all but out of the emo closet.   Full text...

A surprising and engaging album, twisting and turning through a hybrid landscape of jangle, indietronica and pop for a record that aims for adventuresome listening over easily broken-down and digestible sonic nuggets.  Full text...

Let's Build a Fire is an enjoyable album, but it lacks depth and inimitability.  Full text...

It's cliche, sure, but a suitable enough soundtrack to bedroom misery.   Full text...