Maryland Music Monthly on
" Off With Your Head":

…… [Bastille] paints an 80's rock soundscape with vocals reminiscent of Ric Ocasek, Patti Smith, David Byrne, Oho, even Harry Chapin…… "Voices", the lead in track, breaks the atmosphere loudly……..
Cawkwell and
Arthur Graves man
the guitars with panache, and ideas and arrangements are lively and somewhat clever….
I found myself mesmerized after second and third revisits and wondered if these artists weren't in fact poking fun at themselves and the genre…….

Kyf Brewer

"Overall, Bastille plays kind of like a Rush-inspired jam band. There are some other influences in their sound, such as Jethro Tull, Echo and the Bunnymen and some ELP. Call me crazy, but I thought I heard a hint of Iggy Pop, as well.

Some tracks, like "Fistful of Dreams" and "I Have Doubts" have more of a pop sound, while tracks like "Braveheart", the particularly dark "Chosen Ones" and, to a lesser extent, "Voices" have a deeper, almost gothic, sound to them. In addition to some great power pop, progressive-type tunes, they can also slow things down, as they do in "Anything". Throughout, however, they seem to have a more or less consistent idea of what it is they want to do with their music.

The vocals may be the band's strongest suit: at times sounding like some sort of cross between Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) and Brad Roberts (Crash Test Dummies). Again, the influences don't stop there; "Circle World" is a nice ballad that sounds like it could have been done by Donovan. Despite these strong vocals, one of the disc's best tunes may be "Snowslider" - an absolutely Rush-esque instrumental.

Overall, this is a great disc to pop in and unwind to. If you're looking for some cool tunes, solid riffing and perhaps a little bit of psychedelia there's no need to lose your head - just go grab some Bastille."

LarryMac - Domain Cleveland