Despite the leaps and bounds that this effort makes songwriting wise, it just feels less unique than it did before.

For all its spookiness, Confrontations is ultimately a pleasant listen that goes down easy and doesn’t leave much of a impression.

The eclectic Portland, Oregon based quintet's 6th studio album is a return to form following last year's Destroyer of the Void, which, despite showcasing Blitzen Trapper's refined instrumental chops, came off as flat, derivative, and fatally overproduced.

Monthly Friend is serviceable indie rock at best, but it’s hard to meet it with anything greater than apathy and indifference.

Raven in the Grave isn't significantly weaker than any of it's predecessors, it's flaws are just significantly more obvious.

Digital Roses Don’t Die is a subtle, occasionally lightweight, jaunt through the realms of K.R.I.T.’s affections and motivations.

Tapes 'n Tapes will probably never again manage to capture the youthful, devil-may-care magic of The Loon--those times are passed. But Outside, with its handful of pretty fantastic tracks, shows positive signs that this band may not be the victim of early success that it once seemed destined to be.

My Head is an Animal is a highly impressive debut that's full of emotional lyrics, lush, diverse instrumentation, and a powerful and dynamic male/female vocals.

Aside from a few inconsistencies, the change in sound is quite revitalizing and proves that there is more to Royal Bangs than a serious case of musical ADD.

Early Birds paints a picture of how the band were operating before they got around to releasing their debut, showing that they were just as interested in being silly and experimental as they are today.

In an era that occasionally feels oversaturated with hyper-pop, demon time is never too frenetic for its own good. It’s short, but these songs groove.

It's an album that alternates between being rewarding and punishing.

There's nothing wrong with seeking to accomplish the same things your heroes did, but when a band tries only to imitate a few aspects–in this case, detached singing, jangly guitar interplay, and lyrics about teen angst–without offering many of the other aspects that made that band great–like clever storytelling and interesting perspectives--it's always going to fall short. Which Come Of Age does.

With repeated listens, even the least of the songs still reach for that relaxing, carefree Best Coast vibe, but the feeling takes more work to achieve compared to the immediately lovable, attention-demanding nature of their entirely natural, easy-as-pie debut.

Pedestrian may have similar mechanics to Yuck’s highlights underneath, but it’s stripped that fuzzy distortion and slathered in a thick layer of schmaltz as a replacement. The end result is a struggle, one that’s scattershot due to it’s need to include now-ancient methods to survive.

They haven't quite found it yet, but Esben and the Witch have the potential for an arresting and momentous album in them.

Sure, there is not a bad tune in the bunch, but the problem is that there isn't a particularly good one here, either.

While it's not as subtle or as elegantly constructed as Beast Rest Forth Mouth, this record has a kineticism and momentum that Beast lacked.

Despite the thimble of predictability or aural similarity, Wahlfeldt has accomplished in Crusher an interesting take on familiar sounds. It’s too fuzzed out to just be post-punk, too sparse to just be a home-recorded take on his alt-rock idol.

To put it simply, Is This Hyperreal? suffers not because the band made a bad album, but because this is the fourth time they've repeated the formula.

Soft Metals shows a ton of potential, and each track is polished with care, but it is hard to overcome the album's mostly simple pattern.

There’s something to be said for burning bright and fast, but with the limp arrival of Y2K! it seems this room went dark long before we were able to leave the party.

Yeah Right’s dual interests in songwriting and guitar explorations end up being its greatest strength.

Ultimately, Mylo Xyloto feels like a mixed bag of ideas that never really comes together.

The end results are still pleasant enough, but can wear thin, even just after five songs.

All in all, Two-Way Mirror is a good but flawed album, with plenty of things to excite, but a few things that can disappoint.

It's shiny but fluffy, and sure to be a disappointment to those hoping that O'Regan could build on the promise of Special Affectations.

Banks is showing some desire to move beyond the design that his career has sustained itself on, but this album shows he's not quite ready to cut the cord.