While Personality is worthy of praise for its feverous energy and detailed, hot-iron arrangements, there isn't a lot to make the album really stick.

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

Hive Mind is confident in finding a throughway and becomes as much a joy to listen to for its toy-box experimentation as it is for its head-nodding immediacy.

It manages to sound familiar while sounding entirely new, all the while making it clear that this is a sound only Lambchop could create.

Mark Reign of Terror down as a fairly successful, but ultimately transitional work.

Where I was expecting a great album, I've instead encountered one that's merely very good.

These songs are probably Jurado's most ambitious portraits yet in terms of ideas and eclecticism.

It is the bravery of the album that is its greatest triumph.

It's big, open, cavernous, so much so that it feels like it could swallow you entirely, and so you let it because it's comforting, warm, and safe.

All that need really be said is that it is sublime; both in terms of execution and aesthetics.

All the talent in the world can't cover up the fact that Queen of the Wave simply tries too hard and succeeds too infrequently.

Guaranteed both to amuse and to confuse, Ten$ion is a masterpiece of kitsch: an intently provocative, tongue-in-cheek rave-rap record, by a cryptic performance art group.

They do doom and gloom very well, and more importantly, offer their own unique slant on the sound rather than sound like Joy Division clones.

The "point," if there is such a thing with this kind of music, is that even during its most trepidatious or lonely nadirs, there is a beauty to experiencing love that overwhelms the heart. Windy & Carl seem to aim to replicate that overwhelming sensation through their music.

Despite its short length, Kindred provides as much of an experience as Untrue. And commendably, it's a different one.

There are moments where the album drags, and there's no one that's going to be declaring this a modern classic, but with this strong debut, Young Magic have cemented themselves as a band to watch in the coming years.

The result is an album that is still adrift at sea, unaware of the musical landscape around them.

The Caretaker certainly remains a fascinating and worthwhile project.

Overall, while Blondes' debut album isn't quite as dynamic as the EP, it still serves its purpose as a notable standout from the upstart duo.

On Sweet Sour, Band Of Skulls show themselves to be well equipped to keep the garage blues/rock flame alive.

While A Sleep & A Forgetting is a bold new statement for the band, the album occasionally treads on the mundane level, due to its similarly-orchestrated tracks.

There's much to cherish here, but this isn't a complete effort.

Tramp is simply her most fully-realized album yet, and that's all there is to it.

Mark Lanegan has accomplished something truly magnificent with Blues Funeral.

As a package on its own, Air's Le voyage dans la lune doesn't hit especially hard, but when paired with the historic film, they become a dreamy, fulfilling piece of entertainment and mystery.

Fans will be glad to accept this triplet and know that the creation of this style of music in his plans.

It has the potential to sidle next to records like Movements and We Are Monster as a genre classic, but it's just as assured to find a broader audience as well.

It gets repetitive after a while.