Both [Frankie Rose and the Outs’ 2010 self-titled] and this one are short, sweet, and undeniably charming rock records that hold up on repeat listens more than you might expect.

Every song on this record is carefully crafted, and the way they’ve perfectly balanced the intimate bedroom atmosphere with the crystalline sheen of modern mainstream has created a set of unmissable pop pearls.

Don’t Be Dumb won’t replace old favourites. But it is, in its own sprawling way, a reaffirmation of what makes Rocky compelling: his appetite for risk, his curation of texture and collaborators, and his refusal to smooth every rough edge.

Sure Zonoscope is splattered with stumbled-upon gems, but a little more editing and maybe some more focused songwriting sessions could have really brought Zonoscope into focus.

While I don't understand a lot of the decisions made on this record, it is still undeniably an exhibition of some of the best sonic control and sound shaping around.

Bankrupt! suffers because it feels a little detached at times, like you can’t really tell where the band are in the big picture.

Soft Will is certainly not as immediately infectious as Smith Westerns’ previous outings, but that does not make it a weaker album. There are still many injections of fun in the wordless gang vocals and theatrical guitar solos.

What makes Collapse Into Now so satisfying is that it isn't a return to form so much as a realization that the band R.E.M. are now isn't necessarily a bad thing to be.

The most frustrating thing about these eleven songs is that it sounds as if Lidell is shackled by the aesthetic, and it’s totally self-imposed. He’s capable of more.

Mixed Emotions seems served just too late, and comes off as regrettably stale.

If Born Sinner proves anything, it’s that he’s not ready to take the fall, but he as a long way to go if he wants to rope off an area all his own in hip hop’s evolution.

Caravan Château is undoubtedly a sonically interesting album to partake in. But Izenberg’s compositions don’t always lend him any favours. They are considered, and everything feels deliberate (despite how sporadic it may be presented to be), but sometimes they don’t wander in any direction that makes for engaging listening.

While it’s not breaking any new ground or causing any philosophical contemplation, it’s highly doubtful that the album is trying to be more than what it exactly is: a collection of songs about dancing your way out of the complications and snares that so often accompany love.

After listening to Legacy it seems difficult to imagine anyone else achieving what they have whilst working with Disney studios.

I know the band can write damn good songs and they have proven that before and prove it here, but until they address the main problems (the still heavily reverberated vocals for one) or really venture out into something different (there is life beyond pasting snippets from philosophy lectures) I think history will keep repeating itself for these guys.

It is an unmistakably raw first album of ripe potential, and one of the more memorable releases of the early weeks of this year.

The end result is an unfortunate fact that while Death Cab For Cutie seems as capable as ever at expressing themselves, they are running out of things to say. Or, at least, things worth hearing.

It gets bogged down in the doldrums somewhere between the personal and universal, and ends without truly having reached either shore.

The surrounding material is all solid, if not to be ranked as some of her best stuff.

Nobody Lives Here Anymore is a respectable and melodious work of sincere and warm country-pop.

Extinction Level Event 2 is just too ambitious for its own good. Yet, for all the lazy sequels and cash-ins in a genre rife with them, it’s hard to fault Busta Rhymes for striving a bit too hard to go that extra mile.

Is 4 Lovers is the band’s most playful album to date too, oscillating between The Beatles, Lenny Kravitz, Big Black, early (aka: good) Muse and The Rapture.

At times invoking Sung Tongs-era Animal Collective, although never to the point of copyright infringement, Julian Lynch's Terra is certainly an interesting listen, even if it does come across as disjointed.

They sound like too much like themselves and too much like the others, and even if you discount the pinpoint instrumentation, it's depressingly calculated.

In changing the dynamic, The Mysterines get a little lost.

It’s far from a miserable affair, it certainly passes the time, it’s just hard to imagine how so much talent in a room didn’t arrive with something that didn’t feel so staid.

Feel the Sound is not a classic, it's not a masterpiece, and despite its pristine delivery, it's not perfect. But it is an honest and genuine sampling of a band who continues to subvert expectations.

On first listen to Fanfarlo's sophomore effort, it doesn't leave a lasting impression, but with repeat listens, more and more intricacies start to creep out of the woodwork.