Patterson Hood Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams
Released Feb 21, 2025 ATO
Established consensus 6 professional reviews Updated Oct 15, 2026
Broadly positive consensus
Patterson Hood’s Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams favors quiet persistence over a forceful entrance, drawing its strength from memory and the unsettled edges of childhood.
How ChoruScore worksCritics' Top Tracks
The songs critics returned to most
A Werewolf And A Girl (feat. Lydia Loveless)
1 critic mention
“with Lydia Loveless contributing lovely harmonies, meshing instead surprisingly well with Hood’s vocals.” — Glide Magazine
The Forks of Cypress (feat. Waxahatchee)
1 critic mention
“These two tracks are utterly beautiful” — Glide Magazine
Miss Coldiron's Oldsmobile
1 critic mention
“his reminiscing about his godmother in the gently flowing, atmospheric “Miss Coldiron’s Oldsmobile” — Glide Magazine
Full critic consensus
Patterson Hood’s Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams favors quiet persistence over a forceful entrance, drawing its strength from memory and the unsettled edges of childhood. Its 80.5/100 consensus score across six professional reviews points to a warmly received record, with the available review describing music that “wafts over you” yet holds attention. Rather than relying on immediate impact, Hood builds an intimate, reflective atmosphere around family, adolescence, and the ways the past lingers.
The album’s musical experimentation gives those recollections different shapes. “Miss Coldiron’s Oldsmobile” is singled out for its gentle flow, while “The Pool House” takes a more abstract, cinematic turn, suggesting a collection that can move from plainspoken warmth toward evocative, less literal storytelling. Both tracks offer useful entry points into the album’s balance of narrative and mood. The supplied critic narrative does not establish a recurring top-track consensus, so these highlights are best understood as individual moments of praise rather than definitive rankings of the best songs on Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams.
For listeners drawn to reflective songwriting and arrangements that favor atmosphere over blunt force, the critical reception suggests a rewarding, quietly commanding Patterson Hood release. The detailed reviews below provide further perspectives on how its memories and experiments land.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Exploding Trees
A Werewolf And A Girl (feat. Lydia Loveless)
The Forks of Cypress (feat. Waxahatchee)
Miss Coldiron's Oldsmobile
The Pool House
The Van Pelt Parties (feat. Wednesday)
Last Hope
At Safe Distance
Airplane Screams
Pinocchio
Get the next albums worth your time.
Critic-backed picks in one clean digest. No clutter.
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 6 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Patterson Hood’s Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams wafts over you rather than grabbing you by the neck, but it commands attention. “Miss Coldiron's Oldsmobile” gently flows, while “The Pool House” takes a more abstract, cinematic turn.
Key Points
-
The album’s intimate piano-led arrangements, layered textures, and reflections on memory reveal more colors and lyrical insights with each listen.
Themes
