Tender Buttons (album)

Reception

Upon its release, Tender Buttons received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 76, based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". AllMusic writer Heather Phares said that the album "strips [the band's] luminous electronic pop down to its barest essence" and "has a uniquely fresh, modern feel. Sparingly applied beats, intricate but subtle guitars, and hazy synths dominate the album, providing a restrained backdrop for Keenan's quietly commanding voice and crossword-puzzle lyrics." Phares awarded it four out of five stars. The Guardian's David Peschek wrote in a four-out-of-five star review that "Broadcast's recent records have often seemed too cluttered with effects" but that on Tender Buttons the band "managed to find a halfway house between this always engaging but fussed-at sound and … resonant, muscular psychedelia". Paul Woloszyn of musicOMH published a positive review of Tender Buttons and said that it "that takes you to another planet with a sonic soundscape lent from Stereolab, but developed to be distinctly Broadcast", referring to the album as "arguably their finest moment".

Writing for Stylus Magazine, Jeff Siegel said that "on its surface, [Tender Buttons] seems like such a simple little curlicue, all Mother Goose coos, descending-scale melodies, and no-wave screech over dinky drum-machine patters … no mucking around in different time signatures, no showy genre fusions, just a single idea … most acts would falter here, but Broadcast pull it off with an easy grace and breezy elegance". Siegel gave the album a B+ rating. PopMatters reviewer Adrien Begrand wrote that "instead of finding a comfortable middle ground, there's more of a sense of tension to the proceedings, the vocal hooks lulling you, only to have electronic noise jolt you awake", further referring to Tender Buttons as "rewarding [and] their boldest album to date."

Pitchfork Media's David Raposa offered a mixed review of the album, saying that the band "bring the melodies, but then dress their poptastic efforts with whatever ruckus they can conjure" and "there's no … stand-out track on this album (and there's certainly no 'oh wow' moments)" but concluding that "this is still a Broadcast album, meaning it's one of the better things you'll put in your ear this year." Rating the album three-and-a-half out of five stars for Tiny Mix Tapes, Alan Ranta said "Tender Buttons is a fairly strong, unified effort on its own" but commented that with the absence of guitarist Tim Felton "many tracks sound like they're simply missing a piece". Ranta further added that the band's "more minimalist approach allows/forces [Trish] Keenan's surrealist lyricism to take a larger role in their sound" and referred to this as one of the album's many merits.

Track listing

All tracks written by Trish Keenan and James Cargill.

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from Tender Buttons' album notes.