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Critic's Review
Dean Carlson, All Music Guide
Often passed over in the the High Llamas' canon (even the liner notes of the reissue go out of their way to reassure that things are a little rough), 1992's Santa Barbara is nevertheless an important formative record that will please and interest many admirers of the band. There's an emphasis on pre-acid house English pop ("Market Traders"), Out of Time-era R.E.M. ("Put Yourself Down"), and an orchestral touch that would reappear later in albums like Cold and Bouncy. "Period Music" pokes out with verses lifted from XTC and a closing, layered, almost dream pop refrain, but non-fans may wonder about the band's bored and serious approach toward Byrds-ian acoustica.
