"This thing is just a relief to listen to. So much rock/pop sounds pretentious and over-reaching or just plain clag. The Cocker Spaniels, the recording project of Sean Padilla, has nothing to do with that. This reeks of intelligence. The music is complex, clever, but not "I'm the musician your just the mere listener" posing. The riffs and melodies are genuinly catchy, the standard of musicianship is very high on all instruments and there is a great delight in his inventiveness with mixing and effects. He's taken exceptional care with the was he's recorded this material. He's experimenting more with his instruments, and has gotten a few friends to do some additional vocals (and vocal mucking about). The same eccentric panning that was on "Little White Truths" is also apparent but with a bit more experience this time. It's interesting that his music relies on pop-style hooks while using almost experimental structures and recording tecniques. Some of these riffs are so memorable, their brilliant. Meanwhile, Sean's lyrics are not just icing on the cake, their intregal, which again makes this music such a relief. He sings only about his life and doesn't seem to claim expert on anything else. Yet what he reveals doesn't seem vouyeristic or cringing, but an almost dead-pan delivery of what he's going through at the time. It's like a movie, hearing about different episodes in his life. Since Sean is in college and is getting into his twenties the lyrics reflect his life on campus, his observations of society around him, and his personal feelings and hassles. A dry sense of humour keeps his lyrics above self-pity and other self indulgences. He sings about his long distance love affair and struggles with the demon lust, about the crap jobs he has to do to get money together, about the idiots and bigots around him, and yet never descends to bitterness or whinging. He sings clearly and often sweetly but some of his subject matter can be grim ("Your Things Are In The Yard", "The Thugs Have Left The Building") as well as humerous ("Telemarketing Song"), all in the same delivery. He's not afraid to admit fault, or to reveal his less appealing side. In the end, he admits he's not perfect but pledges himself to his chosen path in life in a positive affirmation. All the realities of life that the mass-media has made cliche, Sean has put forward as a simple and humble offering."
---Andrew MacIntosh, January 2004