|| Fensepost ||"Poland is a bit of a surprise for being from Seattle. The town’s disposition, as I’ve noticed of late, is not really that sunny. Like the countless overcast, rain-filled days each year, the city itself has a dreariness, a darkness that is hard to miss outside the typical touristy areas. For calling Seattle home, Poland has a much sunnier, more upbeat nature than one would expect. But their latest release, Most Of Them Are Clockwork is on Series II Records, a small Nebraskan CD-R label well-known by regular FensePost readers as giving us overtly upbeat pop music from around the world. Blending one part lounge, one part orchestral pop, and a dash of bedroom psychedelia, Poland’s music is a mix between mysterious and uplifting. The blend, seemingly awkward, is actually rather nice."

|| Fazer Magazine ||"The group Poland is an 8-piece rock band containing a string section of a few violins and a viola. The band manages to factor in eight different perspectives of their sound and fits them all into every track, allowing every member to be heard. The performances on Most of Them Are Clockwork are precisely executed and majestically orchestrated. The band expresses themselves through song by distilling moments of life like a photograph explored through music. They paint vivid scenery, enveloping the listener in a relaxing atmosphere that contains graceful guitars and soothing vocals. The violins provide an ambient accent to the guitar licks that are paraded through every track. The bass player impressively bridges the gap between the two varied styles and creates a foundation to make the album far more accessible to a wider audience. The violins sing like birds on the song "Finally September”. It’s a beautiful ballad that sounds like it should be heard on a beautiful day when a forest is finally coming into bloom after a long winter. "Small Talks & Miracles” is like the soundtrack to a shy couple that by chance meeting on the dance floor turns into a happy ending. On "Bell & Howell”, the lyrics ‘Hold my Heart/because it feels like love’, take flight over guitar melodies, weaving themselves around violin lines that take the track to a soulful level. Overall, the album accomplishes the task of being artistic without being pretentious, and sincere without being sappy. Even people who don’t have a taste for elegant classical music could still spin to Most of Them Are Clockwork and enjoy it. Ultimately, the band is a romantic mix of lush arrangements and smooth bass lines that slither underneath funky guitar grooves, that altogether sounds like Jamiroquai jamming with Broken Social Scene."

|| Dagger Zine ||"Series Two Records only pressed 300 copies of Most Of Them Are Clockwork. Here’s a suggestion: Track one down. For the second straight release, Poland has provided a highly listenable collection of coolest-kid-in-the-class (you know, the one who quietly sits in the back, waiting for school to end so he/she can get to band practice) songs. As with the brilliant Schoolboy Crush on Che Guevara, the Seattle outfit recalls the best of West Coast jazz, circa 1965, along with Burt Bacharach with a touch of British pop. A more modern point of reference might come from Ladybug Transistor (hey, what are these guys, as well as the Essex Green, doing these days?), circa Albemarle Sound (see King Mary, Clockwork’s gorgeous fifth track). Highlights from Clockwork include Finally September, a brilliant strings-filled backbeat-driven romp that sounds very Left Bankish, and Starling Street, with a haunting beginning that should hit an NPR newscast, as between-story filler, any day now. If there’s any quibble, it’s that singer Mark Romanowski’s voice might come off as a little too detached. If could have something to do with the mix: Vocals aren’t as up front as they probably should be. Still, he’s a nice singer who ultimately compliments the array of strings, xylophones, marimbas, and on and on. Here’s hoping he, and Poland, continue making beautiful music. www.myspace.com/seriestworecords ANDY GIEGERICH”