“Now we’ve been grooving long into the night to this lots debut album ‘Good beneath the radar’. The Playwrights might have arrived just in the nick of time to rescue the current early 80’s post punk revival by bringing to the party an astute level of intelligent and crafted song writing that sets up camp where Wire’s ‘154’ and Gang of 4’s ‘Entertainment’ hurried off in search of greener pastures. The Playwrights sabotage their sound with angular templates, making disconnection an art form so much so that it sounds totally connected if you get the drift. What at first seems harsh and wayward soon gets into the head and starts to rattle around, believe me you’ll soon find yourself happily humming ‘The Me decade’ with it’s distracted elegance, wooing strings sections impart a feeling of heartbreaking loss, courted by some deft autumnal brass arrangements all converge to endow on this a most tranquil albeit haunting finesse.
‘Television in other cities’ presents a poppy focus on the normally abstract elements of math rock, repetitively ascending and descending riffs cast their hooks and wind you in with spellbinding ease, a sharp and twisted gem. ‘Do you miss the war?’ what seems like a dreamy instrumental on closer inspection is gritted by some wayward manoeuvres and some feisty intensity that would not look out of place on Left Hand’s ‘Minus 8’ album while The Boy Lucas wraps up the set with his curious re-reading of ‘Television in other cities’ etching to it subtle friction based pastiches cast over irregular grooves, very austere indeed. An ensemble worthy of keeping a beady on in the future.” Losing Today

"This is most impressive - warm rewarding clever pop music that doesn't fit easily - pop music that flows in that gloriously challenging (and almost lost) way of XTC or Aztec Camera or Magazine. Rather different - rather beautiful, slightly psychedelic, progressive intelligent rewarding dynamic English pop music that you can hang on to - you see, it doesn't always have to be throwaway and while most are content to push their music at us in an instant- pour-on-hot-water fast food manner, rewarding for that first moment of impact and then quickly forgotten as you move on to the next bite from the next on off the almost identical production line, you do find a new band or two - see British Sea Power, 31 Knots and now The Playwrights – who are brave enough to give us (and themselves) so much more. These four tracks glow, the Playwrights positively glow, they're like that bit between the rain and the sun where everything is extra radiant. This is the glorious first single from the Bristol band, their debut album "Good Beneath The Radar" is on its way very soon... we can't wait to hear it now.... This EP is a glowing radiant treat and you really should make an extra special effort to find it. Single of the week." - Organ Magazine

"It’s disheartening you know; of all the team here at LOGO I’m the one who gets the hate mail, and it’s always my name that makes press officers cringe. Well I’ll let you into a secret: I do like music, but I don’t like shite. What I look for in any release is a spark of originality, not some cringeful, derivative bollocks designed to make a fast buck and satisfy the marketing requirements of trendy magazines. That is why I fucking LOVE The Playwrights. Listen closely and you’ll hear Aaron Dewey and Benjamin Shillabeer, the creative core of the band, heave a sigh of relief. Really, they shouldn’t be worried. With a CV that includes a stint working with John Parish and a sourcebook that includes XTC, Gang Of Four and Pere Ubu, as well as the studio trickery of George Martin and the give-a-fuck outlook of Stephen Malkmus, they’re unlikely to be gracing the cover of No More Energy (you figure it out) anytime soon, so they’ll still be making music to cherish in a decade. There is a God." - Logo Magazine

"The cold choppy guitar sound from the early 80’s seems to be enjoying a renaissance at the moment what with the likes of Interpol, British Sea Power and Radio 4. The Playwrights join the aforementioned bands, employing this sharp aesthetic to inject a degree of melancholy to their music. However, the gentle instrumentation that The Playwrights construct around this rhythm softens the edges and has the same effect as the defrost setting on a microwave. Instead of cold gloom laden tunes, Television in other cities is an EP of warm and beautiful pop music. The fuzzed up guitars, understated strings and orchestration mean the jarring guitar sound is given a blanket in which to wrap up in. The result of which is a truly wonderful melange of skewed indie rock and west coast vibes stumbling through the world of quintessential British pop music." - Do Something Pretty

"’Television...’ is a multi-layered, multi-riffed and totally deceptive slice of a subversive pop tune. Sheering, sliding guitars, riffs from every corner of the mix, World Party are in there, somewhere, but so are The Clash and it's jarring, it’s great and it works. ‘The Me Decade’ that does a kind of Roddy Frame being pushed out of the orchestral pop minefield by blind drunk insistent strings, brass and things, there are also killer piano fills in there, with Beatle tape-stretch trickery, gotta have it. Great stuff, I love it." - Unpeeled

"Television in other cities will help me...." Though the deadpan sentiment is worthy of, say, Kraftwerk, this Bristol band is infinitely more expansive, incorporating acoustic guitars, off-kilter rhythms and vocals that hint at the ominous yelp of Gary Numan in his heyday. You should be duly impressed." - Eye Weekly - Toronto

"Title of the week. An arch spoof of electroclash, a cool pop song and a wave to the Human League all inside four minutes." - LaunchPad, Teletext