If you wanna hear some Killing Joke, do yourself a favor and go get a copy of the band's original debut self-titled record or What's THIS For...! (which were complete trend-setters), because this latest release comes off as nothing but a lifeless self-parody of those albums.

The band's most “accessible” album to date.

The Clientele’s debut album offers consistently strong melodies, excellent playing, occasional surprise, and a taste for more.

Answers is a document of how good instrumentals can be written without walls clearly delineating where the verse ends and the chorus begins.

It is an ambitious effort, and it could very well leave your brain hurting by the time all of the songs have wrapped themselves around you, because there is so much going on and so much to digest.

One of the most surprising, challenging, and important albums of the year.

Anyone who’s familiar with The American Analog Set knows what to expect and won’t be disappointed by this album.

If you're looking for a less structured, more experimental 764-Hero-style band, these two guys do it quite well.

A bright, urgent, and charming album from an excellent young band.

It's unabashedly retro, fuzzwop guitars bleeding psychedelica all over the place, crossing three decades of a never-ending summer of love and hate, but it's not revolutionary.

A heart-meltingly wonderful return to form.

No doubt, the music that falls between the Beatles and Bacharach extremes suffers slightly from adherence to formula, but few can boast such immediately memorable melodies. What surprises, though, is the care that they take with the lighter side of their music.

This is truly an album that will stay with you once you’ve let it work its way in.

Phillips and Wareham manage to toe just the right line between diverse arrancements and album-wide cohesion - it's a little like listening to Luna in an alternate universe where they only play weddings and bar mitzvahs.

Catchy yet intense guitarwork, intricate rhythms, soft and hard moments, and layers of Shehan's amazing voice - it all combines to create one amazing album.

Soul Journey takes off in more than one new direction.

Like no other pop album you've ever heard.

Zoo Psychology is gritty, and crazy, and at times, almost maddening.

Ultimately, Precollection probably isn’t the kind of release to greatly expand its influence over the throngs of the unconverted, but it should be more than a welcome advance for those already convinced of Heasley’s obviously remarkable gifts.

Built On Squares is a refreshing slice of musical Valhalla.

Alter is intense, brooding, and taut, perfectly utilizing piano, chaotic dissident guitar, and complex percussion.

Musically, it’s far and away ahead of most hip-hop artists, and lyrically, it’s a clever approach that goes beyond the heart-on-your-sleeve indie-rock lyricsheet.

As half of the fun of an album is trying to figure out what the artist is trying to do creatively, having the artist essentially tell you what they're going to do and then watching them do it, is somewhat less interesting.

Rounds is a perfect mix of subdued chill-out music and up-tempo beats.

More religious text and tapestry than commercial pop folk, The Smell of Our Own charts its own territory through the heart and head and holes of celebratory love. Truly unique.

At times on Song in the Air, I'm reminded of what it might sound like if Sigur Ros, Radiohead, and Jimmy Eat World were all merged together.

They've got enough going for them that they're likely to remain steadfast favorites of true music fans even after the hype has died down and the scenesters have moved on to something else.