Drowned In Sound's Scores

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For 4,812 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 53% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 44% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 71
Highest review score: 100 It Won't Be Like This All the Time
Lowest review score: 0 BE
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,477 out of 4812
  2. Mixed: 1,220 out of 4812
  3. Negative: 115 out of 4812
4812 music reviews
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    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sex Change
    There's a lot here to admire: the songs are well-formed and consistently engaging.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Tiny Rebels [EP]
    Tiny Rebels sees Kelly test the boundaries of his own artistry, exploring whether something small--be that a solo act, a straightforward melody, a single thought, or even a collection of six songs--can transcend to become something greater than itself.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Breaks & Bone
    Despite the nature of the record it's never a self-indulgent or forlorn listen, jumping from one emotion to the next, all the while held together by some truly excellent musicianship and wry Scottish lyrics.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Eraser
    While The Eraser might not be a genre-busting classic like Kid A or OK Computer it's a good, solid record nonetheless.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Way Out
    There might be less going on than with the cut-and-paste stuff elsewhere, but ironically that makes these tracks seem like most fully formed moments here, the points of contrast which, as with all successful collages, make The Way Out work as a whole.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    See You In Magic
    It is a ‘safe’ record, one that plays to its makers’ long-established strengths without really stretching them--but fans of all the aforementioned predecessors are certain to find much to love across these 13 tracks.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lesser Evil
    Although this is hardly cause for concern, one minor problem with Lesser Evil is that it doesn’t sound quite as fun--in the sell-your-house; buy-sandals; join-the-circus sense--as one expects Doldrums are fully capable of sounding.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    1989
    Taylor Swift may not be challenging societal norms in the same way as Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and my own band CHRIST ALIVE are, but she’s relatable and that counts for a lot. I spent a surprising amount of 1989 rooting for its protagonist and sharing in her triumph.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Excellent Italian Greyhound
    Excellent Italian Greyhound is everything you’d want from a new Shellac record - terrific-sounding, expertly performed and gleefully atonal as ever, but it’s live that this legendary three-piece’s performance art really comes to life as more than the sum of its casually-displayed parts.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Dead
    The mish-mash of styles on Dead makes for a globalised texture, an eclecticism that appears to know no bounds. For some, it may all be a little too much to handle. But if you’re looking for a thoroughly twenty-first-century record that’ll challenge your preconceptions and bombard the senses, then Dead is something that’s definitely worth your while.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Thought Forms/Ebsen & The Witch
    That this split LP showcases is two bands from different cities, on different labels and of a largely different generation of musicians--yet it's unified and generally very good throughout.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Be Set Free
    In its lack of cleverness, the album has a certain wide-eyed innocence, and even the songs about hangovers show a generous perspective on life, of which music critics could do well to take note.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Dark Days + Canapés
    Ghostpoet’s vocals are delivered in a consistent, mumbled, emotionally-drained understatement throughout, lending the album a sense of authenticity that it could not survive without.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Decency
    Like their previous records, Decency is at its best when Heartstrings are indulging their knack for straight up, grin-on-its-face pop music.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Honey
    Honey is a fine record, a consistent record and a thoroughly enjoyable record. But it is not a great record, and in comparison with the standard she has set for herself previously, this is a mild (though fleeting) disappointment. That said, there is still a clear and beating heart here and the sheer humanity of Robyn’s musical soul remains one of the most beautiful things in contemporary music.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Le Noise
    It's not a completely successful experiment, but Le Noise is certainly an important moment in Neil Young's ongoing story.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Strange Weekend
    Sonically the songs are strong.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Occult Delight
    Each track is well structured and well-executed; never staying for longer than it should do or even doing anything on the whole that it shouldn't.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Hymns
    What's striking from the outset about Hymns is that little has changed in Davies and Matthews' elegant world of classically-inspired chamber pop.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Magic Gang
    The first half of the album is characterised by high energy, fast-paced songs, best shown by raucous singalong ‘All This Way’ and ‘Getting Along’. At points these are in danger of blurring into each other but I think this may just be because of the specific order they’re listed in. ... The second half of the record is quieter, with a more musing outlook.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Dynamite Steps
    As a collection of songs and sentiments there is a nagging sense that Dulli is revisiting old haunts. Yet it feels reassuring, as Dynamite Steps continues the resurgent course he's been treading in recent years.
    • 95 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Skeleton Tree
    Whatever one makes of the songs presented here, at least we should all be able to agree that another addition to Cave’s legendary, beyond comparison catalogue is in itself enough of a reason to feel very satisfied.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Strange Peace
    Metz keep consistently ticking along and will always be a welcome addition to any year's new releases, regardless of whether they're the most original band in the world and Strange Peace does nothing to disavow that.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    La Grande
    Although La Grande is no huge departure from what Gibson has been practicing for years, it's a wholesome and welcome addition to a back-catalogue which has very few flaws, even if the moments which stand up and make you take notice are not numerous.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    S [EP]
    This is the richest, most musically complex she has ever been.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Wilco (The Album)
    While (the album) tips far more convincingly on the successful end of the scales, there remains the sense of a band playing safer than needs be; a sextet pushing against their limits but never straining outright at them.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Desperate Ground
    The Thermals are still a band in awkward transition resulting in a record that is reliably good by their own decent standards, but which fails to fulfil its very apparent potential to be great.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast
    Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast is a vibrant collection of songs that further illustrates the importance of Cornershop over the past two decades.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Jet Lag
    Whilst at times the melodies feel frail, and it seems to struggle with a slight lack of something musically, at others the album is triumphant, with complex, brilliant pop songs about that age old theme, heartbreak.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Phosphene Dream
    There's a definite identity to the band on this third album, and its highest points are some of the highest of the band's career thus far, but to this listener, the band lack the kind of killer edge displayed by newer challengers to the retro-rock throne, such as San Francisco's Wooden Shjips. That said, if you like the influences clearly on display, there's little to fault, and plenty of fuzzy swagger to bask in.
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