Sugar Daddy Live finds the sludge metalists powering through an energetic 13 songs nearly 25 years after their formation, and having a ton of fun while doing so.

Knight has a certain hunger to his performance, giving these steely, cluttered soundscapes a semblance of warmth which makes it a far cry better than the cold calculation of The Block.

Although the musicians ... play often furious hard rock, the mix allows a few of singer John Falls' lyrics to be lost.

Make a Scene still provides a couple of gems, but it's hard to shake the feeling that she's now milked the whole dance-pop ice-maiden schtick well and truly dry.

Cave In has always been a multifaceted band, but their stylistic range has never been as thoroughly explored as it is on White Silence.

Anyone up for the crazed power of Teenage Hate should enjoy just about everything on his release.

Amazing as the music consistently is, however, it can't overcome this album's primary liability, which is Martyn's atrocious singing.

Many bands get more sophisticated, or at least tighter, as they become more technically accomplished, thereby losing some of their punk edge. That hasn't happened to Title Fight yet... [They] continue to be fresh, if somewhat semi-professional.

Within the digital production, which is acidic and cavernous, there are hints of the Kills (fuzz blasts, crunchy mechanical drums), Clinic (vacant vocals), and Animal Collective (watery, circular melodies).

As always, it's a treat to enter Herren's soundworld, but he could've made much more of an impact with the tools on display.

Ryder-Jones deserves to make the leap from imaginary films to the real thing.

Snow Patrol still have the potential to hit the sweet spot between U2's stadium baiting, Coldplay's icy elegance, and Elbow's art school-infused, north country soul.

A strangely attractive racket.

Unfortunately, by tailoring their sound to the stage, they sacrificed some of the beautiful flow and elegant dynamics that made their self-titled effort so effortlessly brilliant.

These original songs may be recently written, but they are steeped in familiar structures, with lyrics full of references to drinking and loose women.

It's an enjoyable look back at one of the main players during an interesting era of American indie rock.

After 25 years, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones remain pretty much the best at what they do, and what they do remains lots and lots of fun.

She manages to sing through her torment on Voyageur, in hope that the journey is ultimately redemptive.

If it isn't as strong as 2009's Something's Wrong/Lost Forever, it shows Biram is too tough and too stubborn to quit telling his tales any time soon, and for folks who like their music rough and real, that's a rare bit of good news.

You'd have to go a long way to find a better indie rock album in 2011.

More to the point, it sounds like a souvenir CD you might pick up at the gift shop of a historic battlefield site.

This straight-faced, more serious version of the band still knows how to crank out some solid songs, but it would seem that, in maturing, Four Year Strong have lost their way.

An enticing listen.

Through these two discs, the band's highs, tragedies, slumps, and comebacks are all evident.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a musical labyrinth that is well worth getting lost in for Ross and Reznor fans as well as soundtrack buffs.

Forever is a mood album, heavily sedated and perpetually out of focus, like an R.E.M. dream after cough syrup.

Punk and Poetry, sees them come out fighting with more fervor, more radical spirit, and more anger than ever.

In 2011, the band is still going strong... Several tunes here sound like they could end up on Fairport's next greatest-hits compilation.