The Avalanches No Bad Memories
Released Oct 16, 2026 EMI Recorded Music Australia Pty Ltd
Established consensus 5 professional reviews Updated Oct 20, 2026
Broadly positive consensus
The Avalanches' No Bad Memories turns fragments of half-remembered sound into a thrilling, gloriously disorienting party at the edge of the end times.
How ChoruScore worksCritics' Top Tracks
The songs critics returned to most
Can't Get Over Losing You (feat. Portraits Of Tracy)
3 critic mentions
“Portraits Of Tracy is a real highlight, and one of the finest pop moments of the band’s career.” — Clash Music
Our Love Is Alive (feat. Suzanne Ciani & Barry Can't Swim)
2 critic mentions
“The Avalanches put her explanation into practice, layering bright synthesizer melodies and pulsing bass around the refrain “our love is alive.” — Slant Magazine
Together (feat. Nikki Nair, Jessy Lanza & Prentiss)
2 critic mentions
Full critic consensus
The Avalanches' No Bad Memories turns fragments of half-remembered sound into a thrilling, gloriously disorienting party at the edge of the end times. Its 82.4/100 consensus score across five professional reviews makes the critical verdict clear: this is a highly inventive, often euphoric record, though its sprawling form can occasionally test the songs’ ability to hold the foreground.
Critics praise the group’s zany sampledelic collage, where nostalgia and melancholy mingle with an uneasy digital atmosphere. The result feels both playful and faintly unsettling, full of unexpected turns and a welcome disregard for polish. With 31 tracks, No Bad Memories is best understood as an immersive ride rather than a collection to cherry-pick, reviewers suggest, even if some interludes threaten to overwhelm the songs. That looseness is part of its appeal: the record’s imperfect, unruly construction helps its jumble of memories feel alive rather than carefully preserved.
For anyone asking what the best songs on No Bad Memories are, “Can’t Get Over Losing You (feat. Portraits Of Tracy)” stands out as the most consistently noted track. “Our Love Is Alive (feat. Suzanne Ciani & Barry Can’t Swim)” also earns praise, with its uplifting, tear-jerking effect, while “Together (feat. Nikki Nair, Jessy Lanza & Prentiss)” is another critics’ pick. The consensus points to an album worth taking as a whole: messy by design, catchy at its best, and generous with the ecstatic unease that makes The Avalanches’ collages so distinctive.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Bd-R
Together (feat. Nikki Nair, Jessy Lanza & Prentiss)
Xerox Altalink B8055 (feat. Ryoji Ikeda)
I Give Everything I Have 2 U (feat. Loaded Honey)
Every Single Weekend (feat. Jamie xx)
Friends Forever
Blue Shadows (feat. Karen O)
Logoland
Like Clockwork / Hit By Traffic (feat. Khadija Al Hanafi)
All The Time In The World (feat. Vegyn, Baby Marlboro & Rivers Cuomo)
3D Glasses Not Included
Vida (feat. Erick the Architect)
Paradise Island (feat. Mike Patton & Khadija Al Hanafi)
Unicorn Quest™ (feat. Ryoji Ikeda)
Far Away (feat. John Glacier & Khadija Al Hanafi)
He Lives In The Old World
Can't Get Over Losing You (feat. Portraits Of Tracy)
Watch Out! It's Cloudy (feat. Khadija Al Hanafi)
Highfield (feat. Panda Bear)
EL Dorado TV Spot (feat. Haley Joel Osment)
Under Yr Power
SUV Heaven (feat. Khadija Al Hanafi)
One More Fantasy (feat. Carly Simon)
Break Out Corporate Tag (feat. Ryoji Ikeda & Portraits Of Tracy)
Magic Wand (feat. Barry Can't Swim)
Superfun!™ TV Spot (feat. Haley Joel Osment & Mike Patton)
No Bad Memories
Our Love Is Alive (feat. Suzanne Ciani & Barry Can't Swim)
Total Recall (feat. Mike Patton)
Final Credits (Loaded Honey Version)
The Pavements Light (feat. Haruomi Hosono)
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 6 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
The Suzanne Ciani-interwoven Barry Can’t Swim number brings a tear to the eye, it’s so uplifting. At 31 tracks, the runtime might seem daunting, but this isn’t an album to pick and choose from. It’s a ride, and a gloriously disorientating one.
Key Points
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The album’s fun, danceable grooves turn memory, capitalism and ambient noise into a brilliant, gloriously disorientating ride.
Themes
Critic's Take
There’s something liberating about how little the album seems concerned with perfection.
Key Points
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The album's core strength is how it turns commercial sounds and computer noises into personal, sometimes disorienting memories.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Avalanches have never sounded quite this zany, and on No Bad Memories the best songs are some of the catchiest they’ve ever composed.
Key Points
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The album’s bright, intricate collage work gives its catchy songs an immersive, dreamlike flow.
Themes
Fa
Critic's Take
The Avalanches are back with, well, an avalanche of an album. It’s masterful because it feels like the last party before the end times.
Key Points
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The album's unconventional samples and shifting sounds turn technology's nostalgic comfort and sinister paranoia into an intoxicating, life-pulsing body of work.
Themes
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Critic's Take
The Avalanches turn the junkyard of half-remembered sounds on No Bad Memories into a dizzying collage, simultaneously playful and faintly unsettling. There is an embarrassment of invention here, balancing euphoria with melancholy and nostalgia with a digital unease, even if the interludes occasionally threaten to overwhelm the songs themselves.
Key Points
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The album's core strength is its dizzying collage of half-remembered commercial sounds, balancing euphoria with melancholy and nostalgia with digital unease.