Georgio 'the Dove' Valentino isn’t waiting around for anyone to deem him a star—he’s inhabiting that role already. The nickname barely scratches the surface: This labelless Detroit songsmith sounds like Stephin Merritt fronting the Smiths, wringing every drop of hammy drama out of his swooning tales of love and loss. This kind of music is built for the concert hall, so we can’t imagine how surreal it’ll be to hear it in a Lower East Side basement.
— Time Out New York 1 Aug 2007
If you have a name like Georgio "The Dove" Valentino, chances are you have a melodramatic streak, and Mr. Valentino does not disappoint in the slightest. Drama is his specialty, as he pouts and preens like the rock star he is, or at least would like to be.
Iconic images of David Bowie and Bryan Ferry intersect with the gothic angst of Robert Smith and Morrissey, only to merge with every lounge lizard who ever crooned the night away in a smoke-filled bar. It's glam, it's dark, it's moody, and downright beautiful in its own special way. All the elements shine through in the track She's Got Eyes In All The Right Places, where Valentino turns the smarmy charm up to 11.
—Mish Mash 25 March 2008'There's a lot to expect of someone who goes by "The Dove." Cutthroat mercenary running clandestine operations for whoever takes on the task of appeasing his insatiable appetite for devastation? Selfless humanitarian leading a life of purity and union? A guy who wears a dove costume and leaves messes on the cars of baffled drivers? (Oh my!)
Nah. Instead, try to imagine Morrissey performing at your high school prom (ignore any negative connotations - this isn't meant in a derogatory manner at all). At least, that's how Georgio "The Dove" Valentino, member of past group Edward the Bear and Bisou Bisou and current group the Valentinos, presents himself on this seven-inch's A-side, "She's Got Eyes in All the Right Places." His irresistible, sensuous croon floats - or should I say flies - above what sounds like a new wave group doing a cover of a 50's pop tune. It's a perfect blend of pastiche, pomp, and pop. Oh, yes, it's suave, and, more, Valentino's sleek singing'll draw you to that special someone as quickly as you can imagine a man capering around town in a bird outfit.
If "She's Got Eyes" is for dancin', then its B-side, the dashing "Bete Noire," is for the car ride home. The instrumentation begins much more sparse, allowing only a languid synthesizer and a very careful guitar to compete with Valentino's voice, but then it gives way to a flavorful piece adorned with Morricone-esque flair. Through it all, "The Dove" croons gorgeously.
It's not difficult to evade the keystone of these recordings: Valentino sounds terrific. You may fall in love to his voice, you may fall in love with his voice, but prepare to be affected regardless.'
— Jacob Price | Delusions of Adequacy 19 Sept 2007
Fans of hometown art-glamsters the Valentinos will recognize Georgio "the Dove" Valentino as the impossibly debonair keyboardist with the impossibly tall pompadour. But what fans might not know is that Georgio's solo efforts are as elegant and Dandy-ish as the man himself. And the voice? Think Edwyn Collins meets Dean-o at a shvitz with Morrissey.
— Eve Doster | Metro Times Detroit MI 7 Feb 2007
"She's Got Eyes in All the Right Places." His name sounds like the moniker of an out-of-town hit man hired by local syndicate heavies to rub out a particularly shifty mark. In that scenario, "The Dove" would have some ingeniously cruel method of dispatch, like death by the pecking beaks of carrier pigeons, or something to do with elevator shafts. In reality, Georgio "The Dove" Valentino is only a crooner. An affiliate of Edward the Bear and the Valentinos, and joined at times by members of Clone Defects, he brings the wobbly, Champagne-buzz romance on "She's Got Eyes," suggesting Bryan Ferry in a dinner jacket and drunk on Cristalino, only creepier. (In a good way.)
— Johnny Loftus | Metro Times Detroit MI 7 Feb 2007