Send "The Little Ones " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Nme |
 The reason Fleet Foxes have been drawing such plaudits for their album must be at least partly down to its sleeve, which looks much like popular cartoon quiz Where’s Wally? set in the Middle Ages. Bottom left: is that a woman comforting a pig? It can’t be entirely down to the music, because while their ‘White Winter Hymnal’ sometimes brushes the chilly, ageless beauty of an ammonite Beach Boys, it’s also got a touch of the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Yawn. GHThere was a moment, as 2007 turned into 2008, when fans of The Little Ones’ 2007-released, 9/10-scoring mini-album ‘Sing Song’ began to despair. News began to leak of the band’s release from their contract with EMI: small beans for the label which boasts Coldplay, The Verve and Robbie Williams among their roster, yet a sign the well-publicised troubles of the UK’s flagship major were beginning to show their effects. Even if you had no interest in such industry tattle, the nubbed career of a new band who showed such early promise was depressing enough. What now for the five Californians with the songs that embodied the very word ‘yummy’?Well, props are due to Heavenly Recordings, who originally signed the band and stuck with them despite the absence of major-label funding and saved The Little Ones’ debut proper from gathering dust in EMI’s vault. Yet the band themselves deserve the lion’s share of credit. Over 11 songs they’ve assembled an ensemble of tunes so melodic, catchy and bright you imagine the legendary UK indie’s hand was forced into pressing up copies the moment they heard it. You know that TV footage of baby birds eating chewed-up worms from their mothers’ mouths? Or doe-eyed seals skidding across the Antarctic ice? ‘Morning Tide’ is so fabulously cute it’s like viewing all of the above through a fog of candy floss....full text |
| Musicomh |
| Here we are, near the end of July, and thanks to The Little Ones, we finally have an album that makes it feel like summer has arrived. Chock full of sunny pop confections, it seems they've found a way to bottle the perpetual summer of their native California, and gift it to us in the form of their debut full length, Morning Tide. For a while it seemed like The Little Ones might not even make it to the album stage. Despite 2006's glorious Sing Song EP, they parted ways with their label, leaving fans to wonder what was to come. In an age when music is instantly available after a few clicks on your laptop, and today's 'it' band becomes yesterday's news nearly simultaneously, it can be hard to sustain interest even in worthy bands. There was always the chance that if The Little Ones did finally put out a full length, the memory of Sing Song might be pushed too far back in people's minds. Then, there is the worry that too much anticipation could inevitably lead to disappointment. Luckily for us, The Little Ones ability to write cheery, melodic, pop gems trumps label troubles, and Morning Tide should expel any lingering doubts....full text |
| Guardian |
| The Little Ones' agenda is to make angst-free pop - a song only makes the cut if it first makes the band dance. This debut ticks both boxes. Every song is a sugarcoated mood enhancer, with harmonies and hooks reminiscent of the Shins and Magic Numbers and the clean lines, vivid colours and California sun of a Hockney painting. The fuzz-rock bass of Everybody's Up to Something surprises, and Boracay sounds like Vampire Weekend on vacation in paradise. But Ordinary Song celebrates the power of a happened-upon pop song in the vein of the Carpenters' Yesterday Once More, and the Little Ones share their pop predecessors' taste for blossoming melodies and saccharine sentiments. By the end of the album, your face will hurt and you'll be desperate for some Napalm Death....full text |
The Little Ones lyrics
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