UNIVERSITY McCartney, It'll Be OK
UNIVERSITY's McCartney, It'll Be OK hits like a live set captured mid-collapse, trading polish for fizz and immediate impact. Across five professional reviews the record earned a 67.8/100 consensus score, and critics consistently point to the hook-driven, chaotic highs as the clearest evidence of the band's promise.
Reviewers agree that standout tracks anchor the collection: “Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo” emerges repeatedly as the album's calling card, while “Curwen” is praised for its jagged catchiness and “History Of Iron Maiden (pt.1)” and “History Of Iron Maiden (pt.0.5)” showcase the group's math-punk flair and unexpected instrumental turns. Professional reviews from The Quietus, Clash, DIY and Tinnitist celebrate the live studio immediacy, rawness and post-punk intensity that make the best songs on McCartney, It'll Be OK feel urgent and immediate.
Yet the critical consensus is mixed rather than unanimous. Several critics applaud the record's sonic aggression, absurdist humour and the contrast of chaos vs calm, arguing those elements produce thrilling moments of tension and release. Some reviewers caution that the same unruly energy can tip into one-note din, leaving the album feeling unfinished and better suited to the stage than the living room. Taken together, the reviews suggest McCartney, It'll Be OK is a promising, volatile debut with standout tracks worth hearing now and the live experience likely to be the ultimate payoff.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo
5 mentions
"The first tune, ‘Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo’ gets its name from a band discussion"— The Quietus
History Of Iron Maiden (pt.1)
1 mention
"On the other hand, ‘(Part1)’ is a multi-part ten-minute epic"— The Quietus
History Of Iron Maiden (pt.0.5)
1 mention
"‘History Of Iron Maiden (pt.0.5)’ breaks with their usual racket and closes the album out with a bleepy instrumental"— The Quietus
The first tune, ‘Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo’ gets its name from a band discussion
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo
Curwen
Gorilla Panic
Hustler's Metamorphosis
GTA Online
Diamond Song
History of Iron Maiden Pt. 1
History of Iron Maiden Pt. 0.5
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 6 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
UNIVERSITY sound like a band discovering themselves on McCartney, It’ll be OK, and the best songs - notably “Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo” and “History Of Iron Maiden (pt.1)” - show why. Jared Dix's review relishes the record's fizz and immediacy, calling the arrangements condensed and the guitar pulls wild, which makes those tracks standout examples of the album's math-punk thrust. He also highlights the surprise closure of “History Of Iron Maiden (pt.0.5)”, a bleepy instrumental that reframes the band's range and leaves the listener intrigued. The praise is tempered, measured, and specific - these are songs that make the record feel like a thrilling first step rather than a finished manifesto.
Key Points
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The best song, “Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo”, is best for its condensed arrangements and dynamic shifts between calm and noise.
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The album’s core strengths are raw energy, tight live-in-studio performance, and a knack for immediate, inventive math-punk arrangements.
Themes
Critic's Take
Julia Mason revels in the glorious noise of UNIVERSITY’s debut McCartney, It’ll Be OK, insisting you will be taken by surprise and thrilled by unpredictability. She spots immediate hooks in opener “Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo” and crowns “Gorilla Panic” a highlight thanks to its guitar-led, hypnotic build. The review likewise praises the restrained melody and final unravelling of “GTA Online”, while celebrating the album’s live, raw production and moments where chaos yields to calm.
Key Points
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The best song, “Gorilla Panic”, is the album’s highlight thanks to its guitar-led hooks and hypnotic build.
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The album’s core strength is its live, raw production that balances glorious chaos with moments of calm.
Themes
Critic's Take
In this piece Darryl Sterdan couches UNIVERSITY and their debut McCartney, It’ll Be OK in celebratory, slightly amused prose, highlighting the best songs as the jagged, catchy “Curwen” and the sardonic “Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo”. He praises how the band’s hooks are now brighter and more melodic, how the breakdowns are heavier, and how the live, edge-of-collapse energy makes tracks like “Curwen” stand out as the best tracks on McCartney, It’ll Be OK. The review frames those songs as exemplars of the album’s contrast between light and dark, and as the clearest, most immediate payoffs for listeners seeking the best songs on the record.
Key Points
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The best song is "Curwen" because it combines brutal instrumentation, absurdist humour and a scything, catchy punk hook.
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The album’s core strength is its live, unhinged energy and the contrast between darker emo influences and brighter, melodic hooks.
Themes
Critic's Take
UNIVERSITY charge into McCartney, It’ll Be OK with an unapologetic, headlong rush where the best songs - notably “Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo” and “Curwen” - barrel through like controlled demolition. The reviewer's voice revels in the album's full-throttle, clashing cacophony, praising those tracks for their wall-of-sound impact and abrasive immediacy. Even the calmer moments on “GTA Online” and “Diamond Song” are noted for their deceptive brevity, reinforcing why the loud, frontal hits stand out as the best tracks on McCartney, It’ll Be OK.
Key Points
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The best song(s) such as "Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo" are best for their relentless, wall-of-sound assault and immediate impact.
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The album’s core strengths are its chaotic energy, abrasive instrumentation, and unpredictability that find beauty within noise.
Themes
Fa
Critic's Take
UNIVERSITY's debut McCartney, It’ll Be OK is praised for its live-smothering energy but criticised for being too hectic to cohere, and the review points to tracks like “Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo” and “Hustlers Metamorphosis” as high-water marks. Phelan writes with a weary admiration for their visceral propulsion, noting moments where the band's atonal instrumental textures and doom-tinged lurches actually suggest a more interesting direction. Yet he keeps returning to the record's one-note din and inscrutable sardonicism, so the best tracks feel like teasers of what this sound could be if reined in. The piece reads as a recommendation to seek the live show for full impact, while warning that the album itself often exhausts rather than rewards.
Key Points
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The best song, "Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo", is best because it hints at a more interesting, evocative direction with effects and 8-bit keys.
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The album's core strengths are its live-sounding, visceral energy and moments of dramatic, doom-tinged texture, though these are often undermined by frantic, one-note compositional choices.