Thankfully, Brightblack's mellow mysticism never comes at the expense of a frisky groove. [Jul 2006, p.97]

This is music for the well-read rock fan and the would-be scoundrel. [Mar 2007, p.134]

They've grown noticeably more centered and serious-minded--and maturity was the last thing that needed to happen to them. [Jul 2006, p.99]

The Sparks' performances are so understated, their arrangements so mechanically soothing, that it's easy to miss Rennie's brutal, elegant twists on folk cliches. [Jul 2006, p.99]

Hot Chip's relentless stylistic hopscotch... ends up in an intricate muddle that fully engages neither hips nor heart. [Jun 2006, p.138]

A dazzlingly rhythmic junkyard. [Jun 2006, p.142]

A much more conventional Busta. [Aug 2006, p.111]

Their songiest record in more than a decade. [Jun 2006, p.145]

Tighter and freakier than her debut. [Jul 2006, p.102]

Pleasant at a distance, the stealthy Son is downright mindblowing at close range. [Jun 2006, p.142]

Sung in his almost icy, stentorian cry--and outfitted with mega-choruses--the tracks feel as epic as Havok's themes. [Jul 2006, p.97]

Sweaty, sloppy and desperately quick. [Jul 2006, p.102]

Our suggestion for a more honest band name: Used Cars. [Jul 2006, p.100]

The Drift is like a nightmare you look forward to repeating. [Jun 2006, p.148]

The resulting batch of songs... just pad out the duller bits of blink, then add walls of mid-'80s-era U2 guitar chimes. [Jun 2006, p.136]

This album has some of what was missing from Home: fire, ugliness, resentment. [Jun 2006, p.135]

A fierce, arty mix of melody and brute clatter. [Jun 2006, p.141]

At times you wish Branch and Harp would dig deeper. [Jun 2006, p.149]

The results are either stiffly egalitarian... or stripped of personality altogether. [Jun 2006, p.143]

Artfully arranged songs about planets and beasts and bittersweet harmonies recall British folk-rock combos like Fairport Convention and Pentangle without coming off as retro or twee. [Jun 2006, p.137]

There's something undeniably irritating but strangely satisfying about lyrics so baldly declarative, especially over riffs this explosive. [Jun 2006, p.144]

Pink is their fastest, most instantly gratifying album.

At their most thrilling, they fuse the spiky cool of Elastica with the witty self-consciousness of LCD Soundsystem. [Sep 2005, p.131]

It's always peculiar, and often a mess; it's also occasionally brilliant. [Jun 2006, p.142]

It's brave, and it's needed. [Jul 2006, p.95]

Song after song is undermined by too-precious gestures, and the occasional bursts of speed and volume can't mask Grandaddy's exhaustion. [Jun 2006, p.137]

This is virile, excited music. [Jun 2006, p.146]

Simon wasn't born to sing over drum & bass. [Jun 2006, p.148]