"With vocals that are half Radney Foster, half Dexter Holland (lead singer of The Offspring) and all Texas grit, Austin Collins’ second album, Roses are Black is a solid collection of high-energy Americana. With his backing band The Rainbirds providing above-average alt-country accompaniment, Collins delves into introspection without ever becoming boring, cliche, or maudlin. While the album’s titular song is musically kind of a drag despite its pointed lyrics, the rest of the tracks are keepers, especially the bitter “Unapology”: “I wanted to, but I never needed you / So I listed and put myself prone / Love’s not a figure, but we settled the score / And there always seems to be proof in what we own”. While some Americana bands tend toward the shallow side on their lyrics, Austin Collins proves that you can have both style and substance in abundance on an alt-country record." - Juli Thanki, PopMatters.com

"One of my favorite albums so far this year is Austin Collins' Roses Are Black. This is Austin's sophmore album and he has truely taken it to the next level. Austin has proven to be a great songwriter and one of the most under-rated in Texas. One the cool things about this album is the production that mixes clear and destorted sounds that blend together and compliment Austin's cool vocals (which remind me a little of Ryan Adams with Whiskeytown) very well. Roses Are Black is a great Americana album that is solid from start to finish. While picking favorites on this album is tough mainly because there are really no bad songs on it. However if I had to pick a few they would be as followed: "11 Monthes," "Witching Hour," "Out Loud," "Roses Are Black," "8 Dollar Thrills," "House Without Windows" and "Goodbye Houston". Roses Are Black is one of the best albums I have purchased this year and is sure to be one of the top CDs of 2008! This is a must have album for any and all true music lovers to have." - Waldo's Views, waldosviews.blogspot.com