Ultimately, Neighborhoods is a slightly awkward entry in the band's catalog that shows as much potential as it does flaws.

The album runs a tad long--and it's difficult to suss out the band's individual voice from underneath the weight of their influences. [Mar 2011, p.92]

Momento Mori is a good album, with the awesome 'Set Apart This Dream' and 'Again' shining with their anthemic choruses and deft use of pop melody. The tragedy is that it could have been great. [Dec 2009, p.108]

Crisis Works has a hard time maintaining the momentum it jumps out of the gate with, but while it is going full throttle, all you can do is cling on for dear life and enjoy the hell out of the ride. [Jun 2011, p.111]

It boasts some of Avary's most concise songwriting to date and a self-confident, unfettered vibe that's invigorating. [Jul 2012, p.89]

The band's skill with their classic source material remains intact: the chord progressions, melodies and arrangements are familiar, but rarely boring or overtly derivative. [May 2013, p.90]

Nada Surf's blend of melancholy, anxiety and child-like optimism is fully intact on their first collection of original material in four years. [Feb 2012, p.84]

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.

We Are Wolves', third album, Invisible Violence, features a bevy of captivating numbers and is a triumphant display of the Montreal trio's versatility. [Mar 2010, p.98]

At its best, Arms is a pleasant album, one that sounds good on the surface or as background music. For most bands, that's perfectly acceptable. But for a group like Band Of Horses--whose ambitions have always intersected with being meaningful and transcendent, too--somehow just being acceptable makes Arms fall short.

Sing When You're Winning is as powerful as you want, as lovely as your dreams and as subtle as the best practical joke. [12/2000, p.121]

Unfortunately, the visceral energy of their early days is lost in their newfound maturity. [Aug 2002, p.71]

About as riveting as a glass of water. [Jun 2004, p.97]

While the band's by-the-book emo and fondness for '90s Radiohead may not break new ground, they've still made a hell of a record whose familiarity makes it feel like an old favorite upon first listen. [Oct 2002, p.95]

Frankly, we think this is better than One Bedroom. [Jun 2003, p.98]

With Safeways Here We Come, Chixdiggit! have released a record akin to Superchunk's Majesty Shredding; a band who never quite broke up seemingly come back from the dead with not only some of their strongest material to date, but also some of the strongest that the genre has seen.

It may not pack as firm as a punch as previous Viva Voce albums, but when they get their shots in you'll feel the sting. [Jul 011, p.112]

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]

The second half of the album loses momentum due to the overly long, soggy pop of "Crescendo" and "Strangers," although Nocturnes recovers nicely on the flawless synth-pop jam "All For You," where Hesketh shows off her dramatic, emotive vocals. [Jun 2013, p.98

The fun carries all the way until the album's lengthy psychedelic jam, "Captain Ace," which bursts with wild saxophone and shows how to capture a brilliant act of Tape. [Oct 2012, p.92]

Here, vocalist Yuki Chikudate's stacked, reverberating vocals sparkle like the glint of light off of fresh morning dew. [Apr 2009, p.134]

Re-examining a broken heart is tough business, but Turner and producer Butch Walker do the work on this dozen-song effort. [Sep 2015, p.97]

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]

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

Blood & Lemonade is a good old-fashioned power-pop record bursting with rock-god guitar riffs, stacked harmonies and chugging tempos. [Oct 2014, p.96]

For fans of hook-laden music, the album's a must. [Mar 2011, p.99]

While storytellers has a decent amount of vocals, it's still the gorgeous, lush melodies and layered soundscapes that speak the loudest. [Mar 2010, p.90]

They really hit their offbeat stride on Fortress with "Japanese Woman," the tale of a woman who "lives in my closet" and "eats up all my food when she thinks I'm at the office." [Aug 2010, p.150]