"The arctic-wasteland motif of Sunset Valley's excellent third album fits this Bozeman, Mont./Portland, Ore., trio like a pair of otter-skin gloves in a blizzard. Employing its trademark, wide-angle reverb -- whether created electrically by amplifier ("Nico Ride") or manually by vocal manipulation ("Say Ow"), it's wide enough to drive a Zamboni through -- Sunset Valley radiates an icy chill to rival the Big Freeze of 1897. Now pared down to main songsmith/vocalist Herman Jolly and the bass-and-drum tandem of Eric Furlong and Jonathan Drews, the band has ditched the occasional David Bowie attire of its 1998 debut, The New Speed, for a new, if constantly changing, pop wardrobe. "Say Ow" finds the Valley boys donning the collegiate threads of Papas Fritas while "Ironmen" finds them wallowing in Ozzy Osbourne puffy shirts and crucifixes. "Misery Jet" even provides a rare sunny day, tripping along like Astrude Gilberto in cut-offs and flip-flops. But the parkas are back on again for "Touch You", which sounds like a man jumping up and down just to stay warm, and the title song, with the band bobbing to the surface in frigid water, only to sink back into the depths. For all its frosty veneer, Icepond retains the power to melt the human heart."  (Magnet)

"Space-power-pop rockers, Sunset Valley's latest, Icepond, is a slower, well-versed pop record, delivering sonic melodies, well-thought hooks, and less noise than in the past. Instead of just hammering out a song and beating you over the head with hooks, this time around the words and the music slowly creep into your mind, floating there as you settle into the song, warming up to it little by little until you're hooked. It is Sunset Valley's new found ability to attract listeners, the talent to let the listener sink into the song, instead of the other way around, that makes Icepond a true winner. More innovative than their previous stuff, the final goal on this album is to showcase themselves as musicians doing what has already been doing (and doing it well), but also adding their own mark to the sounds that are out there already. And they do a good job at doing this. I'll give this album an A."  (In Music We Trust)

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