"Opening with the atmospheric "Song One," Nic Garcia's "The Desperate Ones" builds like a slow burn. Twenty-first century folk tales of the slo-core variety, Garcia walks in stride with Conor Oberst in his folkier moments, bar Oberst's acquired-taste vocal stylings.The album immediately strikes a balance between stark, minimalist, singer-songwriter fare and the more upbeat and produced songs that give the listener a touchstone to contrast the latter. This contrast plays off one another creating the perfect Winter palette... When Garcia sings "it's cold and it shows," you believe every word." - Aquarium Drunkard
"For his third LP, Garcia wants the atmosphere of an empty afternoon church when he pares organ with spare guitar, yet foreboding shatters the North Dakotan peace on 'Their Crimes.' Otherwise, this is a hushed, Library-worthy piano 'n' even slighter guitar affair augmented by Garcia'swhisper-singing little a hesitant Eric Matthews. This makes for a solitude-by-a-cold-rocky-shore feeling - again offset by darker intimations, as on 'The Black Turn Pink' and the title track. All in all, Desperate is gently unsettling and meditatively, quietly creepy". - Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover
"Garcia still delivers in a whisper somewhere between Elliott Smith and Sam Beam (Iron & Wine), he's now just discovered a way to put it to better use. Production might have something to do with it, but it's easy to see that his confidence as a vocalist has grown leaps and bounds. Whether he's letting it sit comfortably between his strumming or float above the grander accompaniment, Garcia's voice has found a new, fresh place. We'd be wise to follow." - The High Plains Reader