Power
by Q And Not U
  • Record Label: Dischord
  • Release Date: Oct 5, 2004
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Tiny Mix Tapes
    90
    Overall, the songs are more accessible, with clearer melodies and less discordance. For many bands this would be a misstep, but it turns out that Q & Not U's penchant for the catchy is one of their best assets.
  2. AllMusic
    80
    Even when there are plenty of other bands working in a similar style, Q and Not U remain more distinctive and harder to classify than many of their peers, which makes Power an exciting album and proof that the band has variety and vitality to spare.
  3. New Musical Express (NME)
    80
    This is the sound of the US underground realising that its message is easier to swallow if it has a smile on its face. [9 Oct 2004, p.56]
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  5. Splendid
    80
    Power is only a slight variation on its predecessors, yet sounds more vibrant and alive than almost anything in the band's canon.
  6. Pitchfork
    75
    Power is, to say the least, hardly the collection of hard rockers that No Kill and Different Damage were. But with its lilt melodies, Davis' downplayed role, and the band's admission that, hey, a bassline here or there couldn't hurt, Power boasts a cohesion and distinct identity missing from Q & Not U's two previous albums.
  7. PopMatters
    70
    At times, the music on Power sounds like an ultra-violent collision between Fugazi and The Rapture.
  8. Drawer B
    70
    Luckily, the band doesn’t cave into the dance-punk trend without expanding upon its current ubiquity with skillful songwriting and risky avoidance of testosterone.
  9. The A.V. Club
    70
    Power announces a change from the get-go, fast-forwarding through punk's often-tired gambits and--sometimes tentatively, sometimes with impressive assurance--shimmying around the dance floor with only occasional furtive glances at the exit.
  10. cokemachineglow
    63
    Littering their album with frail songwriting and all but killing off the aggression of their percussion, the band inexplicably jump into ill-advised stylistic misfires---with a few too many missed falsetto notes.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 2 out of 7
  1. seant
    Aug 12, 2005
    10
    newly discovered vocal harmonies and synth lines add to Q and not U's "post-punk" DC sound well.
  2. NelsonB
    Dec 3, 2004
    10
    An excellent, different offering from the post-punk-dance masters of Q and not U. This songs destroy live, and the cd is plenty fine, and far An excellent, different offering from the post-punk-dance masters of Q and not U. This songs destroy live, and the cd is plenty fine, and far more different than the other crap that's been polluting these genre's of late...… Full Review »
  3. leem
    Nov 12, 2004
    8
    Power requires, no, screams above a surging cresting instrumental wave to be listened to amidst the rest of the musical dirge that populates Power requires, no, screams above a surging cresting instrumental wave to be listened to amidst the rest of the musical dirge that populates ipods everywhere.… Full Review »
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