The Lonetones have perfected contemporary Appalachian music.
- Alec Cunningham, Blank Magazine
It's a group that isn't hemmed in by any boundaries... the Lonetones have developed into a genre-bending group that doesn't quite fit into any niche and instead feels right almost everywhere. If the band has a spiritual equivalent in a better-known act, it would have to be Wilco.
- Wayne Bledsoe, Knoxville News Sentinel
Here I was, a local music writer and I had never heard the Lonetones live. What an idiot. I'll know better net time, as my mouth dropped a mere 45 seconds in. I stopped what I was doing to soak in what was one of the best sets of the weekend.
- Rusty Odom, Blank Newspaper
I expected to like this CD [Modern Victims], but not necessarily to go crazy over it, but that's what I've done. One minute I love Steph's songs and the next I'm thinking I lean more toward Sean's. Of course, the whole is greater than the parts in this case. I can't stop listening.
- Knoxville Urban Guy, Stuck Inside Knoxville With The Urban Blues Again
The Lonetones are fantastic on stage with the kind of sound that takes your soul on a joy ride! Their professionalism is outstanding. Bottom line... these are fine musicians and their new CD, Modern Victims, is on of the best releases of 2012.
- Reida Hill Gillespie, General Manager, Relix Variety Theatre
The tradition they tap becomes only part of the overall equation; these engaging encounters could be considered radio-ready regardless of the environs. To say this is an outstanding effort [Modern Victims] doesn't even begin to describe it.
- Lee Zimmerman, No Depression
Some bands have the ability to always spring a surprise. Even after a decade of making music, it is impossible to define the Lonetones. They are a band that has always been able to journey through musical styles with great aplomb.
- Tim Stokes, americana--uk
Music world behold The Lonetones! Not only have they created a new genre of music, with their new record, Modern Victims, they have taken it to a whole new level. As a friend and contemporary, I'm lucky to know them.... and as a songwriter... inspired.
- Kevin Abernathy, musician
Modern Victims is a bright combination of sounds and styles from a surprising consortium that includes the Lonetones themselves, several talented friends, and more than a dozen instruments. It sounds, at several turns, like smart alt-pop. If a band of 24 year olds with justthe right hats and beards came out with this release, we might be looking for it on the pop charts, catching a ride on the neo-Americana wave that's been recombining itself every few weeks.
- Jack Neely, Metro Pulse
A GENRE UNTO THEMSELVES: The Lonetones may struggle to label their sound, but not to make it beautiful.
- Steve Wildsmith, Maryville Daily Times
Modern Victims is a fine example of taking some of the best things about our local music scene from the past (players, influences, styles, etc) and putting it together with some of those same best things about our current-day scene, and then coming out with a disc that sounds like a "Welcome to Knoxville1" postcard. It sounds just as good on college radio as it does on a roots/Americana station. What a great way to cap off an amazing year of music made and played in our scruffy city!
- Benny Smith, General Manager and Program Director, WUTK
"The relationship between place and music is profound and complicated. Musicians often find a voice that expresses the aspirations, anxieties, and ambiguities of their region and their people. The members of the LoneTones certainly do. Their music rings from the mountains of Appalachia with a reverent, enduring and, at times, conflicted spirit. The band mates shoulder their geography with craft and care."
- Bradley Hanson, Knoxville Voice
The LoneTones specialize in a singular approach to Appalachian pop that's almost unimaginably sweet and certain to please even the most discerning fan of Americana, alt-country and old-time string ensembles.
- Andy Kessler, msn.com
"The Lonetones are a traditional looking combo with acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin and upright bass and a vocalist with a crystal clear high lonesome sound but that's only the sheep's clothing as there is a wolf lurking behind the facade."
- Keith Lovejoy, americana-uk
"There is no denying the folk base of The Lonetone's sound, with musical renaissance man Sean McCollough employing an arsenal of traditional instruments and the band's front porch-vocal harmonies. Despite its mountain-folk heritage, the group has been likened to a number of indie-rock outfits, the most abstract of which being the key-heavy Scottish act Belle and Sebastian. Perhaps more noticeably, the Lonetones are reminiscent of Swedish indie-poppers Acid House Kings had they been reared in Melungeon territory. Ever open to listener interpretation, the group is accessible to a wide array of fans and comfortably fits nearly any venue Knoxville can offer."
- Jer Cole, Knoxville News Sentinel
