It is a more assured and catchier effort and showcases far better songwriting [than its 2011 debut], and though the quality wavers on a few tracks, overall it justifies those who passed on them before taking another look.

It's no Witness, sure, but it's an immensely strong return that shows how viable the band's style and songwriting still are. [Nov 2013, p.88]

Get There is gorgeous, perfect pop. [Nov 2013, p.90]

[Whales And Leeches up its game] by being bigger, bolder, heavier, catchier and even more savagely fun.

With Burials, AFI are going larger than life to get back into the small of their fans’ hearts.

Lyrically introspective, musically tight and vocally resolute, Fade Away is Best Coast’s best work to date.

The record’s high peak, “Upstate Blues,” displays more Kinsella influence (this time Owls) in its jazzy bursts. But the clever wordplay is all Weiss.

A solid spin. [Sep 2013, p.84]

Despite some bummer subject matter, this could be the year's most fun album. [Nov 2013, p.84]

Other post-metal bands may be getting more attention right now, but few are doing it better than Pelican. [Nov 2013, p.90]

This is not the greatest music Trivium have ever recorded, but no one could accuse them of sullying their name with substandard chunder.

The Head And The Heart do pretty much everything right on Let's Be Still. [Nov 2013, p.88]

Bulldozer lacks outstanding highlights, but is consistently enjoyable. It feels impossibly intimate, guarded and playful, all at once. [Nov 2013, p.88]

Bubblegum comes amid plenty KD material, but with endearing romps like the Nirvana-indebted title track and Criteria-sounding "Somewhere Unoccupied," it might be his best batch yet. [Nov 2013, p.88]

The band's desire to branch out from the pop-punk scene has served them well in working to develop their sound, and Tonight Alive have certainly made some strides. [Oct 2013, p.82]

[Travis Morrison's] earworm melodies and piquant lyrical outlook are Uncanney's only source of nutrients. The rest are empty calories. [Nov 2013, p.94]

The energy makes it feel like there's too much going on, leading to songs blending structurally, downplaying hooks.

Dangerkids mix modern elements of electronica and metalcore into rap-rock, which at first seems a bit disjointed and weird, but soon settles into a comfortable roar that hits all the sweet spots in the metal/hardcore/emo realm.

They might be unusually eclectic, but these songs, full of Kasher's trademark incisive insight, are a compelling addition to his ever-increasing catalog. [Nov 2013, p.90]

The resulting album is, at its best, ambitious and teeming with ideas and, at worst, one heck of a mish-mash of sounds.

Give this three plays and it'll stay imbedded in your autumn playlist. [Nov 2013, p.90]

If you’ve long hoped for a more mainstream direction and always wanted to hear just how sweet a singer Krauss is, Bitter Rivals could be your favorite Sleigh Bells yet. But if you’re wishing they could’ve evolved in a way that didn’t involve quite so many ballads and especially not at the expense of what made Sleigh Bells so great, this might not be as essential as you presumed it would be.

Panic! At The Disco have completely hung up their steampunk wardrobes to deliver one of the year’s finest modern-pop works.

Ruthless, catchy and armor-plated, the Los Angeles quintet have focused on refining their sound, yet there is also greater nuance, making this perhaps their most atmospheric record. [Sep 2013, p.88]

Guitarist Lindsey Troy's molten riffage and roaring voice-landing between Karen O and Brody Dalle--are paired perfectly with drummer Julie Edwards' wall-shaking bears on "Your Love's A Lie," which is as (not very) sensitive as this collections gets. [Nov 2013, p.88]

Yuck probably aren't mourning Blumberg's loss, but Glow & Behold--though more scattershot and less striking than Yuck--would be an ambitious and creative coping mechanism. [Nov 2013, p.94]

Mike Hranica’s voice is as gut-wrenchingly brutal as ever, too (“Gloom”), and some songs find the band writing music outside their comfort zone.

A gorgeous and moving album. [Oct 2013, p.86]

The stitched together samples, drum machine splatters, and foreboding synthesizers come across like the soundtrack to a particularly quick edited and terrifying lo-fi horror flick.

Embraced by the masses or resigned to cult status, Sebadoh's reunion is a welcome one, and this strong album is a fine return to peak period form.

While some bands might try to ignore the pressure that comes with a raised profile, Touche seem to have embraced it, producing their most frantic, panicked, passionate and best album of their career. [Oct 2013, p.81]

STD are as tight and melodically brilliant as ever, but the previous trilogy’s anguish and inner turmoil seem to have been replaced by warm sentimentality, declarations of undying love, and smart discourse on relationships and the human condition, with the occasional killer curveball.

But is it emo-synth brilliance or just MOR cheese? That’s the question you may still be asking when you’ve surfaced from beneath these Waves.

Mazzy Star may not have evolved much over the past 17 years, but Season Of Your Day proves they never, ever need to. [Oct 2013, p.88]

The Flatliners here transcend genre distinctions to make a great rock record, period. [Oct 2013, p.94]

Fly By Wire is more nuanced, mature take on the group's comfort-food keyboard-pop. [Oct 2013, p.92]

Their colorful tapestry of indie/alt/emo inspiration is distilled far more subtly then before. [Oct 2013, p.84]

Even more devastation stems fro Iain Cook and Martin Doherty's sophisticated and catchy layers of synthesizers and vocal loops. [Oct 2013, p.82]

Not straying too far from the party vibe, Jacuzzi Boys slow things down, but still sound like fun in the sun. [Oct 2013, p.86]

If you’re in the market for something sullen, you could do a lot worse. But if you’re yearning for any of what likely drew you to Moving Mountains in the first place, you probably need to hope it happens the next time around.

Beyond weird? Yes, but in the best, most deliciously mind-bending of ways. [Oct 2013, p.88]

This is a band in complete control of ts creative vision, and the result is a sharp, confident album. [Oct 2013, p.88]

Exposing her honest and disarmed self more than ever, Neko proceeds to open old wounds.

The music, more polished and synthetic than ever, is fine.... But too much of this album comes off like self-parody. [Oct 2013, p.92]

Now more than ever, Hanna's voice and music resonate and inspire. [Oct 2013, p.88]

They’re successfully anthemic on “She Way Out,” like a nerdy, English version of the Gaslight Anthem. But when they try on modern, digitally glitchy production on “Menswear,” by contrast, it feels (ironically, given the track’s title) like they’re struggling in ill-fitting clothes.

Man Man are still digging around in a diverse bag of influences. Fortunately, they keep pulling out winners. [Sep 2013, p.90]

"Do I Wanna Know?" and "R U Mine?" are a couple of satisfying stomps anchoring this collection of gold-tinted kiss-offs. [Oct 2013, p.82]

Too much of this collection tries to get by merely on Allan's mumble-to-a-scream vocals and a smothering wall of reverb, leaving the instrumentation dull and the tunes indistinct. [Oct 2013, p.86]

Often dark, but strangely triumphant. [Oct 2013, p.92]

At times, Iwrestledabearonce could almost pass for In This Moment. Whether that's a compliment or not is your call. [Sep 2013, p.90]

It's songs seem somewhat aimless at times, but Repave is worth the journey for its riving consistency and moments of hook-laden greatness. [Oct 2013, p.94]

It’s a big, shiny, shamelessly indulgent affair played by talented musicians, and when it comes down to it, it’s just a lot of fun.

Hesitation Marks, the new album from Nine Inch Nails, is both business as usual and remarkably prescient.

The lullaby-like "Death" feels too on-the-nose, but it doesn't detract much from Carrier's bittersweet power: an atmosphere of loss, contemplation and return. [Sep 2013, p.88]

They are definitely good enough to keep fans of modern heavy music pleased with the genre's continued vitality. [Aug 2013, p.83]

From Death To Destiny also features a better Avenged Sevenfold song than that band's ever written in "White Line Fever," and some genuinely affecting strings on “Run Free.” Even if Worsnop refuses to grow up, his bandmates seem to be trying.

Their latest full-length occasionally veers into darker territory than usual, but for the most part it sticks to what the band do best. [Sep 2013, p.94]

It's ain't perfect, with some primitive playing popping up at inopportune times. But if you're after a soundtrack for these late summer months, look no further than Lost Control. [Sep 2013, p.88]

[In Kind undermines the mood of the entire album with a series of acrobatic vocal yelps.] It's a shame, because otherwise this is a record of near-perfect beauty. [Sep 2013, p.88]

The Icarus Line’s sixth album is scarred, clandestine and alluring, much like meeting a stranger who has the capabilities to turn you on--or turn you off, dead.

Segall's laconic vocals and playing style ties everything together and maintains a blunted brilliance throughout. [Sep 2013, p.92]

Their fourth album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action is just as resolute as the title. [Sep 2013, p.88]

An Object is another great volume in the experimental duo's catalog that feels more colossal than their comparatively small eight years together. [Sep 2013, p.90]

The Nextwave Sessions lacks the pure aggression of Four’s best moments, but that’s not a slight; this release just showcases yet another side of the U.K.’s most interesting post-punk band.

A tastefully echo-bathed, psychocandy-flavored production job by the Raveonetts' Sune Rose Wagner, and you've got a soaring and psychedelic dream-pop stunner that will leave you wondering how being bummed can feel so inanely good. [Sep 2013, p.88]

There’s a lot to appreciate, whether you like screamo, face-punching hardcore, pop-punk, or some combination of all those sounds and more.

Even songs in White Lies' comfort zone--namely the brooding ballad "Change," which wears its Joy Division influences proudly--feels more confident. Only the cringe-inducing "First Time Caller," whose lyrics riff on the tired "first-time caller/long-time listener" radio phrase, truly drags down Big TV. [Sep 2013, p.94]

By letting the listener into his universe this time, Washed Out have created an album that inhabits you as you inhabit it. [Sep 2013, p.94]

Drug Church will likely be off-putting for some with weaker aural constitutions, but if you can get over the fact that a skinny, weird-looking guy is yelling at you about nothing in particular, you’re gonna love this.

Wrongdoers might surpass its predecessor in heaviness, emotion, mood and pure adrenalin. [Sep 2013, p.86]

Taken alone, these six tracks are fascinating enough from a conceptual standpoint, and listening to a band audibly restraining themselves is quite scintillating. But it's hard to shake the feeling that these pieces would likely have a significantly greater impact when connected with the entire Testimony performance.

Of course, like any soundtrack, there are a number of pieces that end as quickly as they begin (“Fires,” “The Adventures Of Alvin and Lance”), their existence only making sense in the context of the film itself. Overall, however, Prince Avalanche contains songs that make this an album you can spin even if you have no interest in the film itself while illustrating the versatility of both EITS and Wingo.

The overall ambition is commendable, but perhaps a better plan of action would have been to strip the story completely, cull together the album’s best songs and instead close the EP trilogy with a stronger, shorter release.

Dense, chaotic and ugly, every track challenges the listener to make it through the stormof noise in one piece, refusing to do anything the "easy" way. [Aug 2013, p.84]

Although a bit more of that energy [on tracks like "Your Head Got Misplaced" and "Sick And Impatient"] would've been welcome, Youth is still a lush, inventive listen great for headphones--just not stage-diving.[Jul 2013, p.96]

These are songs worth letting your guard down for. [Aug 2013, p.94]

On Nothing Violates This Nature, the Boston hardcore mob demonstrate once and for all that they’re far more than the sum of their parts. It is also one of the angriest and most violent records you will encounter in 2013.

Bits of experimentation still poke through, especially on the dissonant, heart-rendering "Rabbit Foot," which neatly stitches up Defeater's past while pointing toward fresh dynamics and future chapter to come. [Aug 2013, p.86]

There's a spiraling circularity to Circumambulation that makes the disc feel more like a hypnotic, deathlike hymn than just a bummer stuck on repeat. [Aug 2013, p.92]

Mentioning these ASG cats in the same breath as riff-rockers Torche or Queens Of The Stone Age is not only misleading, it might even be an understatment. [Jun 2013, p.92]

Slowly, Bogart is inching closer to mainstream appeal. [Aug 2013, p.88]

The result is Gogol Bordello's best album in their 14-year career. [Aug 2013, p.94]

Their less-than-radio friendly name will likely keep them just outside of the mainstream, but what they've accomplished on this monolith of an LP is going to be impossible to ignore during this last half of 2013.

It's not bad, but it is slightly disappointing. [Jul 2013, p.102]

Their [Daniel Blumberg and Neil Hagerty's] collaboration resulted in an album that requires close attention to find the golden details hidden in its crevices. [Aug 2013, p.88]

The Blackest Beautiful is a brutally stunning document full of soul and purpose. [Aug 2013, P.88]

You’re Always On My Mind is a cohesive pop-rock album that sees the band in top form.

It doesn't really ever quite rise above excellently pleasant, yet it's remarkably consistent, musically varied and occasionally, endearingly specific. [Aug 2013, p.90]

There’s a good deal of filler on In A Warzone, to be sure, but fortunately there are still some rewards awaiting those who stick it out.

As a listener it’s a thrill to experience the album’s myriad twists and turns. Although it’s almost ominously dense in terms of the sheer amount of notes played, Rescue & Restore’s 11 tracks still seem to blaze by without becoming repetitive.

The studio can't really capture their awesomeness, and wile there are some killer songs on Our Own Masters, they might have been better preserved as a live album of all-new material. [Jul 2013, p.106]

Best experienced as a single piece of ever-evolving music, this is post-rock at its most melodic and dynamic best. [Jul 2013, p.104]

The Maine have written another impressive album, proving once again they're a damn good rock band. [Jul 2013, p.100]

Everblack won't disappoint anyone looking to hear TBDM do what they've always done. [Jul 2013, p.96]

The pieces don't always fit comfortably together, but the picture remains remarkable. [Jul 2013, p.102]

Moreno's breathy vocal soar over the backbone of guitarist Clifford Mayer, bassist Jeff Caxide and drummer Aaron Harris, as melodic and uplifting as they've ever sounded, and the end result is absolutely beautiful. [Jul 2013, p.102]

There's a handful of tracks that should have been left on the cutting room floor to slim down the set, but Heart Attack is undoubtedly a step up for Man Overboard. [Jun 2013, p.91]