"Something I always love is when a piece of music surpasses my first impression and earns itself a spot in my ever-changing rotation. I got sucked into this record; I’ve listened to it at least four or five times in the past fortnight! It’s just the right mix of familiar with original, complex with simple, and serious with silly. Like many amazing albums, Making Friends with the Universe left me guessing when it would end. I have to hand it to These Curious Thoughts: their steadfast originally won me over, and I’m already looking forward to their next release!"
"I have liked everything I’ve heard from these guys so far. This EP certainly doesn’t let me down or break that trend. It continues their progressive rock meets psychedelic concept and is another strong release. If you’ve liked their previous discs, this one will be right up your alley. If you’ve yet to hear them and want to try some modern prog with its heart based in psychedelic and classic progressive rock, you should give these guys a try."
"Have you ever got that warm feeling in your stomach when something goes the way you want it to? A happy, reassured feeling that finally something is right in the world? Well, folks, I have to say that after listening to These Curious Thoughts‘ newest release Inventing Dr. Sutherland and His Traveling Hospital this is exactly how I felt. Finally there is a band that is bringing music back to what it should be about – storytelling! There is nothing I look for in an album or artist more than lyrical/musical adventure and an exciting theatrical feel to the music/album. These guys haven been playing for seven years, and it is clear that they are certain they know where they want to be in terms of musical sound."
"I’m going to start with Dunlop. I really enjoy this guy’s style. It’s kind of a smorgasbord of decades; late 60’s Beatles-esque vibe through the 90’s with some (lighter) Mudhoney and Weezer. It’s a big blend of styles that overall can be classified as “rock” but it is hard to put a much more definitive label on it than that. And I like that. The whole album has a very full, well-rounded sound that I did not expect from the one-man-band. Radford’s lyrics. This is a funny dude. Not just a funny dude, but he’s got good composition, good song structure, good storytelling, overall he’s just a good lyricist, though a bit on the silly side. His lyrics really stood up and slapped me in the face. The first time I listened to John Wayne I actually laughed out loud (more than once), and I truthfully cannot remember the last time a song did that. Radford is funny, sure, but he’s also talented at taking your expectations and flipping them on their head while still being witty, and he does all of that in a cloud of surrealism. He also can do the non-silly song, and some of these can actually be touching."
"There’s a new album out at the moment and I’m working on a review of that but for the moment I’d like to share with you something I wrote a wee while ago by way of an appetiser for an underrated band who I think deserve wider exposure. This review has previously appeared elsewhere but I’ve changed a few paragraphs and moved a couple of commas about."
"The duo’s latest release Inventing Dr. Sutherland and His Traveling Hospital contains fifteen songs that combine elements of pop and rock. I would say that rock-inspired moments are more reflective of bands from the late ‘60s and ‘70s. There is a quirkiness about the music in the same way as Ariel Pink and to a lesser extent Frank Zappa are. They probably could have cut about five tracks, which I think may have made the album feel more impactful. That being said the songwriting is pretty good overall and a number of tracks are worth listening to more than once."
"These Curious Thoughts is a rock solid statement. Song for song, note for note its rock solid catalogue of music. It just has a nice feel good groove to it. Its strong suit – the song for song rock solid consistency and amazing songwriting prowess of these 2 lads. So if you like college alternative rock that dishes out a mercerizing Alternative rock edge then you should jump into this CD head first.!"