Ultimately, the great thing about the '80s vibe on Rooms Filled with Light isn't that Fanfarlo have aped their idols, but rather that they've found a way to make these Day-Glo, spiky-haired melodies feel utterly contemporary.

If Certified has one problem, it's the overabundance of features that eats up too much time.

Across the album, there is not much advancement production-wise, yet there is just enough contrast that it does not make like Treddin' on More Thin Ice.

All Your Favorite Bands has a warm, organic texture that's at once raw and immediate, sophisticated and polished.

Not since "LP5" has being impressed been so obviously secondary to enjoyment.

The Solitude of Prime Numbers is not only unique to his catalog, it is a singular work that testifies to his growth not only as a composer and recording artist but as a conceptual one, whose expansive vision has evolved to include discipline and refinement as well as ambition.

There are always nuggets to be found on a Proclaimers record, and Like Comedy doesn't disappoint.

It's an exhilarating rush, and even for a band that had never made the same record twice, it comes as a bit of a shock after the Men had been inching toward sounding like Bruce Springsteen or Tom Petty.

Generations finds Butler offering up another set of passionate songs rich with complex but understated arrangements.

The crisp, unadorned production--courtesy of Matthew himself, who recorded and mixed this in his home studio--keeps the focus on his brilliant pop hooks, which shine brighter and cleaner here than they have in quite some time.

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, which is the great trick behind this persuasive album, offering a serious argument with plenty of hot buttered soul.

The big differences are that guitars are much more prominent than on any Soul Coughing releases, the lyrics have a more personal perspective, and the additional sounds of the album come from warmer sources like piano, Fender Rhodes and horns rather than a sampler.

Throbbing Gristle... no longer sound frightening, disturbing, or, for the most part, even interesting?

As creative as it is cheerful, Port Entropy just might be the most inviting welcome into Tokumaru's world yet.

The lead track and "In the Middle (I Met You There)" are two of Dear's sharper avant-pop songs....The back half, "Street Song" and "Around a Fountain," are elusive sketch-like tracks with slightly unsettling ambience.

While it's true that it possesses fewer standout performances, it's wholly consistent, and on some level, it's braver for relying on original material to carry it. It requires more listening to appreciate fully. Taken as a whole, however, it serves and fulfills the role of a sequel: the album deepens the band's music-making aesthetic, and further establishes their sound not only as a signature, but even, perhaps, as its own genre.

Paper Mâché Dream Balloon is about as straight as King Gizzard are ever likely to be, and it still totally works thanks to the high level of songcraft and their innate weirdness, which will always come out no matter how hard they may try to keep it under wraps.

For the most part My Ride's Here is a misfire from an artist capable of much better work.

It blends the stripped-down sounds of Pod and the Amps' Pacer into a collection of strangely intimate, feminine garage rock.

Armstrong layers on his string arrangements with alarming regularity, to the extent that each collaborator, other than Bono, has their contributions infringed upon or washed out.

Despite the catch phrases and recycled riffs, nothing about Habeas Corpus is authentic--it's all trashy punk that trivializes anything it touches--but what's fun about it is that Living Things do it all without a sense of awareness.

Among Sheik's albums this ranks among the best, showcasing his subtle skills and sense of quiet adventure in ways his sometimes fussy earlier records never did.

The delicacy and epic sweep of the Twilight Sad's first album is missed occasionally on Forget the Night Ahead, but the progress they've made is fascinating--and rewarding--to hear.

While the music of Wolf People is undeniably vibrant, vital, and visceral, it does not attempt to put any modern (or post-modern) spin on its building blocks; rather, it embraces all the aforementioned influences and moves out into the world as a living, breathing, very natural extension of them.

Those who don't like rootsy ballads are in for some slim pickings, since Barton Hollow shines its brightest whenever the tempos slow, the lights dim, and the voices rise up.

Ultimately, while DREAMCAR's debut surely exists as a byproduct of No Doubt and Havok's various successes, the album stands on its own, magnified by each bandmember's most charismatic elements.

Overflowing with confidence, Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa conquer each track on The Album with their vocal ability (both singing and rapping) and effortless charm, switching up styles to offer something for every type of fan.

Describe contains some of Jadagu's most personal songwriting, while the arrangements show that she's constantly looking to push her sound forward.