This is a musical beast, in every sense. [Nov 2012, p.86]

The results is a rollicking continuation of their previous two albums' unhinged metallic-punk steamroller. [Nov 2012, p.90]

There's nothing that leaps out as brilliant, just like there's not a single example of the band trying something genuinely risky and new, and falling on their collective face.

While he doesn't go too far into weeds with avant-garde tendencies, Aimlessness is still a daring collection of electronic pop. [Jul 2012, p.90]

¡Tré! feels scattershot and slapped together, making it difficult to enjoy on its own merits.

Close the Distance is an album that does not only further separate Lancaster from his past--it also widens the gap between Go Radio and their peers. [Oct 2012, p.83]

Bitter Clarity, Uncommon Grace makes it clear Verse are among the finest hardcore bands existing today. [Aug 2012, p.92]

The rest of the album is similarly focused on animated, inventive electronica which cherry-picks from minimal techno, early synth-pop, moody new wave and Animal Collective-like rhythmic collages. [Dec 2012, p.94]

When stripped back to basics the Brains are as brilliantly brutal as ever. [Dec 2012, p.88]

As with previous Evens efforts, the urgency flows out through MacKaye's precision-like guitar tones, and the emotion that drips out of his and Farina's harmonies. [Dec 2012, p.90]

If You ever needed proof that great tension can be generated without screaming or dialing an amplifier volume knob all the way up, start here. [Dec 2012, p.90]

It does serves as an excellent point of entry for a new generation of fans, while reminding the complacent rest of us how the character of Sacramento's finest continues to endure. [Dec 2012, p.89]

This is a chilly, alienated album that sounds like it was recorded in a walk-in freezer. But a bleak, thousand-yard stare cool beats showy emotion every time, and Clinic knows it. [Dec 2012, p.88]

Deheza's still a fine singer and there are plenty of interesting tones and sounds flitting across the background, but all it ever coalesces into is wan, directionless, dance rock.

Some songs' lyrics feel a bit too rote ("Makeout Party," "Lazy Bones") but that's when you realize Green Day never really had all that much to say in the first place, and they function at their best with hook-filled songs that are typically three minutes or less. Luckily for us, ¡Dos! is full of those tracks, and is definitely the highlight of the band's ongoing trilogy to date.

There's nothing surprising or too far outside their comfort zone.

It's right in line with the band's natural progression; so much so that it's almost difficult to believe it didn't come out a decade ago.

From a purely musical standpoint, there's no question that this is All Time Low's best work to date.

The reason it works is that the songs themselves are consistently interesting without recognizable samples or gimmicks, often boasting melodies you'll walk away humming. [Oct 2012, p.88]

As dark as Floral Green may be, the album is dazzling achievement, and a total game-changer for an entire genre. [Oct 2012, p.94]

While Apocryphon might be the band's push toward the future, let it also exist as a funeral dirge for the band's more vibrant and rule-breaking past. [Nov 2012, p.94]

Cohesive and engaging throughout, this is the sound of a band at their most fearless. [Nov 2012, p.92]

The music is--and should be--the primary focus, and that's a quantum leap beyond what they were doing four years ago. Essential.

We Don't Even Live Here explores the dementia of our current moment with its charged, nihilistic lyrics and a sonic swell of electronic experimentalism. [Nov 2012, p.92]

The album is a triumph, a huge step forward for a band that should be regarded as one of the best in the genre.

The folk direction of the group's past few albums still lingers, but it's mostly buried behind immense decibels and frightening intensity. [Nov 2012, p.92]

It's clear that Paws can have fun while stopping short of their exterior goofiness. [Nov 2012, p.92]

Like their kindred spirits and labelmates in Turing Machine, Maserati have their headspace programmed to "liftoff" in an effort to take you higher than you've ever been. [Nov 2012, p.90]