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]

It feels safe and too familiar.

It's a great album to have on hand for a wild party, but piping it through your headphones will have you skipping tracks. [Feb 2011, p.89]

Despite the oddball showpieces, the Furnaces have refocused the lens on their homemade-pop kaleidoscope, and the result is a unversally resonant album that's not just more joyful than it's companion; it's also more essential. [Jul 2006, p.192]

By smoothing out the rough edges, the guys found new ways to bleed. [Jul 2013, p.104]

Unpatterns is actually more engaging and accessible than Simian Mobile Disco's past work, perhaps because no gimmicks or distractions cloud the band's analog alchemy. [Jun 2012, p.84]

Tellingly, 'Angelika' and 'Maria Leonza' only get comfortably loose and silly when halfway finished. With a Strokes-y guitar part and a driving backbeat, the innovative '16th & Valencia, Roxy Music' is hopefully what Banhart will be in the future. [Dec 2009, p.108]

Yorn continues to embrace a simplistic sensibility, allowing his voice and some rollicking rock riffs to carry most of the tracks on Pete Yorn. [Oct 2010, p.120]

Electrified certainly isn't the most original album you'll hear this year, but crunchy pop like this doesn't have to work very hard to impress the indie set. [Jul 2005, p.176]

The album's best moment is "You've Got So Far To Go," which is straightforward without sacrificing nuance or energy. If only the rest of Damnesia could have been on that same wavelength. [Aug 2011, p.112]

There are gems and duds, but overall this is a fine and successful experiment that'll kick-start any social gathering. [Oct 2007, p.172]

The Rezillos might be your parents' age, but they rock. [Apr 2014, p.93]

Plays out like a sequel to BF5's last album... with one key element missing: humor. [May 2005, p.172]

There's something for everyone on Photographing Snowflakes, and Gough's on the right path for a terrific trilogy. [Nov 2010, p.109]

One needs to spin [the album] multiple times to appreciate the complex but heart-tugging prog-folk dream-pop contained within. [Jul 2007, p.168]

With Lovebox, they do another about-face, dirtying up and slowing down their song-structured house tracks into a grimy soul/funk/house/hip-hop amalgam. [March 2003, p.94]

The irony police already have an APB out on these dudes... but in reality, the old guard are just jealous because they didn't think of it first. [Dec 2005, p.206]

A little more focus in that department [including everyone's vocals in each song] would have gone a long way toward giving some ballast to this soupy, stormy effort. [Feb 2016, p.102]

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

Spin stacks up with just about anything in the Tigers Jaw canon, with melodic and memorable highlights with detailed flow and cohesion that invitingly solicits frequents listens. [Jun 2017, p.82]

Lex Hives redeems them for their previous missteps and their truancy. No skits, no instrumental in-jokes: just rock. [Jul 2012, p.90]

Their take on Delta blues and twisted folk is continually spot-on, going down equally well with a bad breakup or a cold beer with pals. [Nov 2007, p.172]

The result is an album that's dream-like and ephemeral, but still surprisingly grounded and catchy--no doubt the result of strong songwriting and a firm sense of time and place. [Aug 2010, p.152]

The band sounds best when going for the mainstream-pop jugular. [Nov 2011, p.98]

Tori Amos fans will be thrilled, but those hoping to continue on a hard-rock bender will be left puzzled. [May 2015, p.100]

Love & Desperation may not be perfect, but it sure is fun. [Apr 2010, p.130]

Amon Tobin and Joe "Doubleclick" Chapman have created some truly interesting sounds, but the end result is sadly just another trip-hop excursion with lame rapping over the top. [May 2009, p.123]

A record of bittersweet delights that resonates with the brain and the heart. [Nov 2004, p.149]