Oxford Collapse cruise effortlessly from shoegazey dream pop to classic college rock to Schilitz-soaked Americana. [Sep 2008, p.150]

James Jackson Toth's solo debut has the depth, energy and character of a great comedy. [Sep 2008, p.151]

The underwhelming title cut underscores the superiority of the first four Black Kids songs, but their transition from MySpace to major label is an overall success. [Sep 2008, p.162]

Though such pop gloss ruins many indie acts, it fits CSS as snugly as vocalist Lovefoxx's Lycra stagewear. [Sep 2008, p.162]

Whether or not Dr. Dog can duly revered based on their own merits remains to be seen, but in the meantime, they've got a ringer on their hands. [Aug 2008, p.170]

The serrated serenades of Object 47 offer all the compact joys of past Wire classics like "154" and "Chairs Missing," but amplified and digitalized for the internet age. [Sep 2008, p.149]

There's a fine line between vintage rock revision and progressive insight--Hammond Jr. has mastered the balance. [Aug 2008, p.170]

Melvins' 18th proper album is essentially classic rock for 2008--with the band's trademark abrasion. [Aug 2008, p.166]

Like Wilco, it's what SA do with what they've borrowed. It helps that the duo stitch it up Frankenstein-style and move on to the next idea fast. [Aug 2008, p.162]

The ominous charm that had fans nose over tail is not completely lost in Agony & Irony. [Aug 2008, p.156]

They're at their best, though, on moodier fare like the suitably hymn-like 'God Loves You The Best,' with a Beatlesque snatch of orchestration fit for their old buddy Elliot Smith. [Sug 2008, p.170]

When the twins harmonize, the results are sweeter than sugar-dipped honeysuckle. What they really need, though, is some fire in their bellies. [July 2008, p.151]

Naturally focuses its atention on catchy, trashy rock, but this time, the seams stitching the riffs to the Automator's programming are less prominent. [Aug 2008, p.174]

If alt-country were truly alternative, it might sound more like Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, especially on 'What Is Not But Could Be If,' where Silver Jews leader David Berman's booming vocals run as deep as anything this side of Johnny Cash or Leonard Cohen in their prime. [July 2008, p.151]

Devil [is] a nusanced album that only slowly reveals its gifts. [July 2008, p.160]

The shimmering showcase for singer/songwriter Shara Worden--frustrates somewhat, retreating from the rocking thrust of her debut. August 2008, p.162]

O finds Tilly And The Wall perfecting the art of looking at the world through rose-colored glasses--without losing their inherent sweetness or zest for music's restorative qualities. [July 2008, p.150]

Robert Pollard breaks with several of his own traditions--fewer songs (only 10), and of those, eight break the 2-and-a-half-minute barrier. [Aug 2008, p.163]

The Fratellis may have simply have heightened our expectations by sounding too good too soon. [Aug 2008, p.170]

What matters is The Futureheads have made significant artistic and personal inroads to make sure their fans' enthusiasm rises to match theirs. [July 2008, p.158]

Exiting Arm is another step forward in the brillant career of a group unafraid to switch it up. [June 2008, p.137]

Ladytron suddenly sound evey bit as awesomely eclectic as, well, "Softcore Jukebox." [Aug 2008, p.174]

The Red Album is a wonderful jumping-off point for their second wind. [July 2008, p.145]

What Opeth do best is flat-out shred, and at its finest moments, Watershed howls like the unholy union of Queensryche, Yngwie Malmsteen and Morbid Angel. [Aug 2008, p.166]

Balancing a DIY mentality with a good ear for catch hooks, the Cool Kids have the ability to please both sides of the fence--which is exactly what the hip-hop world needs. [Aug 2008, p.174]

It's an honest record, a welcome return and a confident entry in the Spiritualized canon. [July 2008, p.156]

'The Motorcade Sped On,' a track that chops up funky beats with verteran newscaster Walter Cronkite reporting the death of President John F. Kennedy, is worth the price of admission alone. [July 2008, p.170]

The end result escalates The Lucky Ones into one of the finest albums Mudhoney has ever produced, as well as one of the best albums of the year thus far. [July 2008, p.158]

This collection comes together in a much more cohesive and fluid sense [than their debut.] [June 2008, p.131]

Given the collection's remarkable cohesion, No Virginia works as a proper third album, instead of merely being a companion piece to the previous disc. [July 2008, p.170]

Gardner and drummer Jason Hammel discover a prettier, fuller-bodied sound and enrich it with other instruments, such as strings on the inviting opener, 'Get Better.' [June 2008, p.130]

You could feel the Kicks reaching for this sort of grandeur in the more inspired moments of 2006's "Two thousands, " this time, they're bathing in it. [July 2008, p.158]

While Boo! is far less indulgent than JOA's most experimental records, it remains a far cry from Kinsells's earliest work in the mid-90s emo forefathers Cap'n Jazz. [June 2008, p.131]

While such eclecticism usually plays better across the pond, it's hard to resist the nimble melodies and kinetic enthusiasm the Scientists put on display, even if the authenticity is somewhat suspect. [July 2008, p.158]

The real reason narrow Stairs works so well is that despite the band's more esoteric experiments, they still contribute standalone pop hits. [June 2008, p.125]

What sounds like leftovers from Miller's last solo effort and bizarre surf-rock-inspired numbers rear their ugly heads, leaving these Lone Star Staters in jeopardy of repeating the grade. [July 2008, p.158]

It might have sucked the first time you went through [the year between high school and college], but here, it couldn't sound better. [Mar 2009, p.113]

Despite these sawed-off edges, Nouns is an extremely accessible album. [June 2008, p.135]

The result captures him turning into an old-fashioned troubadour, one fueled by big issues and a country/hip-hop hybrid that's never sounded catchier. [June 2008, p.131

Almost too stiff to be funny, this might have been a surreal payday in the boardrooms of Berlin, but one presumes the buck stops here. [May 2008, p.142]

Russian Circles certainly haven't lost their edge. [June 2008, p.133]

Speakers and Tweeters is an admirably varied effort from a band whose Two-Tone jones is just the starting point. [June 2008, p.137]

Listening to Portishead has always been like floating through a waking dream, but now the sleek edges have atrophied into a dusty chaos, and it's all the more beautiful and perfect for the change. [June 2008, p.136]

What elevates Jim from faux-soul Jamiroquai ghetto is the effortless exuberance and keen reverence that Lidell brings to the vocals and arrangements, hand-crafting dusty grooves as fresh as the first drop of the needle. [July 2008, p.162]

To call this "sunstroked desert hallucination mood music" sells it short. It actually transforms the atmosphere of the space in which it's played. [June 2008, p.132]

It's a fun album, full of off-kilter, electro-tinged grooves. Trouble is, backpacker/conscious/positive hip-hop is every bit as cliched as the most unthinking gangsta rap. [Apr 2008, p.163]

The cumulative effect is a widescreen collection that seems destined to win a broader audience for the duo without sacrificing the intimate I-feel-you-fucked-up-life atmosphere of their best work. [May 2008, p.144]

Performing some of thre best party music for smart people this side of Black Lips, the rest of the band match Reis' powerhouse vocal eccentricities with a perfectly calculated degree of rock 'n' roll swagger, blasting ahead like the Wipers one minute and settling into a slow-burning Bo Diddley groove the next. [May 2008, p.128]

Pyramids can sound like several songs playing at once, a psychedelic instrumental played backward, or the muffled recording of a session two rooms away. [July 2008, p.155]

TDS' debut full-length captures punk's careless mischief and re-keys it for the new millennium.

M83's latest flight into the synthesized stratosphere is so steeped in '80s influence, it;s as if teen filmmaker John Hughes was lurking behind the keyboards. [June 2008, p.137]

The moodiest moments are what ultimately make this album Phantom Planet's best. [May 2008, p.140]

The gloriously retro You Have No Idea is what the last Rapture album should of been [May 2008, p.146]

Alone, Air and Earth are the weakest of the EPs, but taken as a whole, Thrice have managed to convert an ultra-abstract concept into a cohesive and innovative collection. [May 2008, p.143]

Fantastic. This is the best new band Sub Pop has worked with in years. [June 2008, p.131]

It's rare to pull off an album this succint and not invite boredom; it's even rarer if it fucking rocks. [May 2008, p.135]

The fifth disc in this succession proves Clinic never skip a beat or miss a step. [June 2008, p.134]

Peeling back the layers of boom-zydeco and soulcholia on songs like 'El Azteca' and 'Easy Eats Or Dirty Doctor Galapogos,' you'll find a ramshackle genius in the bans's new wave kitchen-rock. [May 2008, p.134]

Live! is essential listening for Decemberists obsessives--and an excellent primer for those who aren't fans just yet. [May 2008, p.135]

If you're looking for a little warm blood pumping through the veins of your dance music, as opposed to the droning and repetitive beat sketches plaguing a lot of the genre, this is just about ideal. [May 2008, p.146]

Youngster is only temporarily satisfying. [June 2008, p.135]

The album's primary footholds--those downstrokes; that kick drum; those poker-faced paeans to wizards and wenches--are as true, and as sinisterly black-and-blue, as doom metal gets. [May 2008, p.136]

The best comparison for April is Neil Young. [June 2008, p.131]

Bright Lights is a super-serious record that demostrates some super-serious song craft. [May 2008, p.130]

Pretty.Odd can be summed up in one word: ambitious. [Apr 2008, p.147]

This doesn't say the labum doesn't have its moments, but when you consider the amount of time and patience it takes to get to tthat point, it's hardly worth the payoff. [Apr 2008, p.153]

There is a breadth of influence throughout, even if the energy level rarely falls below absurdly scorching and the sonic approach remains a fuzzy haze. [Apr 2008, p.150]

He's free to let his freak flag fly with Destroyer, and Trouble in Dreams doesn't disappoint. [Apr 2008, p.152]

Their songs have a weight beyond the bell and whistles, retaining your interest once the shock of new sounds and the novelty of genre-hopping is gone. [Apr 2008, p.152]

Crystal Castles is gloriously danceable and hopelessly chic. But really, it's... hearing only...judging is... you know? [Apr 2008, p.162]

Nothing on Sixes & Sevens quite lives up to the giddy brillance of the "Juno" soundtrack, but the music will still inspire you to draw hearts around your crush's name in your fifth-period notebook. [May 2008, p.134]

Pretty awesome, seriously. [Apr 2008, p.153]

It's not as groundbreaking as "Eyelash," but it's another small step in the group's constant evolution. [Apr 2008, p.163]

JXL's enthusiastic proficiency is largely consistent throughout. [Apr 2008, p.162]

Del wisely keeps things simple on the audio front, lubricating many of his basic, old-school beats with the good old P-Funk bottom of his early years. [Mar 2008, p.147]

They're still crisp and cold--kind of like the Terminator--but somehow unlike Ahnuld, it's possible to hear a human heart beating within the steel. [May 2008, p.138]

The proceedings sound loose, yet focused but never disappointing. [Apr 2008, p.160]

The album's got its share of throwaways, but it's definately an artifact of a band reaching their peak. [Apr 2008, p.160]

The lofty expectations are met in full with Saturnalia. [Apr 2008, p.160]

The effortless pop smarts are appealing, but the Ruffians will need to vary the delivery if they're expecting a career. [Mar 2008, p.144]

With Red Of Tooth And Claw they've finally realized the full potential they've been hinting toward all those years--and like all great stories, it's not always pretty. [Apr 2008, p.158]

Decidedly mature and unapologetically soulful, Float is one of the most important records of this young year. [Apr 2008, p.148]

The result is a beautiful collection of understated, orchestral roots rock that will enrapture both NPR and Pitchfork devotees. [Apr 2008, p.153]

The album may have neen best served as an EP; it's an uneven mix of energetic jams and unfocused duds. [May 2008, p.132]

The Raveonettes are suddenly noisier than old-school Sonic Youth and every bit as menacing as the Velevt Underground circa '68. [Mar 2008, p.145]

The album doesn't have the reunion hype that helped make American Music Club's "Love Songs For Patriots" such an event. What it does have is songwriting. [Mar 2008, p.140]

One day, Darnielle might make a sub-par Mountain Goats record. Pride certainly isn't it. [Apr 2008, p.152]

Cox projects an otherwordly allure in his atmospheres and melodies that recall My Blood Valentine's recasting of rock as sound that prioritizes erotic texture and swoon-worthy levitation. [Mar 2008, p.140]

'Slow Race' is an example of how, while moody, their soundscapes still rock and--unlike many of their pensive prog-oriented peers--feel more like songs than dissertations. [Mar 2008, p.140]

It's smooth going down but lacks any real notable songs. [Apr 2008, p.153]

The result is a vivid, nostalgic traipse into what good rock bands ought to sound like. [Mar 2008, p. 144]

The release does establish Simple Plan as on e of the most consistent acts making music today. [Feb 2008, p.109]

Dark is one of the first great records of 2008. [Mar 2008, p.146]

Organically building upon thier contemplative-rock base, Lucky is full of intricate melodies and bridges, intense while at the same time awash with the delicate touch of human experience. [Mar 2008, p.144]

The classic Mould you've sought is (mostly) back. [Mar 2008, p.145]

Die! Die! Die! craft a rickety balance between cacophony and attractive post-punk melody. [Mar 2008, p.136]

Falling Off The Lavender Bridge is a collection of alt-country songs that alternate between darkly funny and deathly serious, cleverly coy and crappily dull. [Mar 2008, p.140]