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Record CollectorFeb 25, 2026Praying at the church of Eighties pop and boingy synths - from Madonna to Tears For Fears - they add just enough heavy-ish rock detail to prevent it getting sickly-sweet, and the beaming bravado wins you over. [Feb 2026, p.101]
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Feb 25, 2026The creative choices to splice, juxtapose and mess with the song structures that don’t work are conscious ones driven by the same tenacity that shapes the best songs of Join Hands, so the band is not misguided in trying them – overexcited would be more accurate.
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Feb 25, 2026Ultimately, Join Hands gives a decent impression of Congratulations’ sound, even if it becomes a bit too much over the course of an album. However, there’s enough songwriting prowess demonstrated here to hint that there may be even better things in the future from Congratulations.
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Feb 25, 2026In some ways, “Johnny Hands” exemplifies what is strong and frustrating about the entire album: idiosyncratic verses and frenzied guitar lines build up a promising tune that never really takes off or goes anywhere especially interesting. Behind the frazzled guitar tones comes a germ of an idea that may have gone lost between writing and production.