Lost At Sea's Scores

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For 628 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 74% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 24% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 4.2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 77
Highest review score: 100 Treats
Lowest review score: 0 Testify
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 561 out of 628
  2. Mixed: 62 out of 628
  3. Negative: 5 out of 628
628 music reviews
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    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Causers of This
    As casual pop, Causes of This pleases effortlessly, though the listener doesn't get the sense that that's what Bundwick is all about here.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Dying To Say This To You
    If you continually dig out your Go-Gos and 80s-era Blondie records to bask in the lip gloss-smacking sound, Dying To Say This To You is the modern recoat for you.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Exquisite Corpse
    Exquisite Corpse does little to expand upon Daedelus’ aesthetic; it does, however, explore the hip-hop direction that he’s been moving towards in his collaborative work more thoroughly than any of his previous efforts.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Taiga
    Taiga is a surprisingly approachable album.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Our Love To Admire
    On Our Love to Admire that world-weariness goes from strikingly haunting to fairly monotonous.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Everybody
    Everybody might be less than lustrous in their own catalog but tops most group's bests.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    The Seldom Seen Kid
    The good news, evident from the very first listen, is a welcome diversity of songwriting and arrangements, on an otherwise basic pop rock record.... The bad news is that diversity alone cannot salvage the album from being their least spontaneous effort yet.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    Where Did The Night Fall
    The end results in UNKLE's later years have been rather mixed, but Lavelle always miraculously pulls some new sonic trick to keep his pet project from falling completely out of favor.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    Acid Tongue
    Acid Tongue has more hits than misses. However, Lewis doesn't realize her full potential on this LP.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    My Bloody Underground
    Although the vast majority of the record stays consistent, as on just about every Brian Jonestown Massacre record Newcombe always finds a way (or must resort to, depending on how you see it) to throw in a few buckets of filler.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    This Gift
    The album can be charming and downright catchy at times and, depending on your present mood, that may be just good enough.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    The BBC Sessions
    The BBC Sessions comes on the heels of "Push Barman to Open Old Wounds," which succeeded simply because it made neat work of the "Lazy Line Painter Jane EP Box," but BBC Sessions seems to somehow simultaneously offer more and less than that compilation.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    LP3
    As presented on LP3, it appears Ratatat's music works best as a fleeting burst rather than a long player.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
    A disproportionate amount of the album's tracks sound like a commercialized knockoff of previous songs, past highlights revisited after a process of radio ready distillation.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    At Mount Zoomer
    At Mount Zoomer is interesting and focused, but safe.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    O
    On their third album O, the day-glo Omaha quintet Tilly and the Wall spoons some peanut butter into my mouth. After an initial scare with the typically saccharine, non-album single 'Beat Control,' they diversify after all, which doesn't mean more overdubs.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Adult Nights
    The thirteen-song cycle does a lot to support the minor hype that's built around the band, yet simultaneously flattens some of the bubbling hyperbole.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    The Bronx III
    The Bronx III is muscular and solid and is, more often than not, good clean fun.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Help Wanted Nights
    Help Wanted Nights may leave longtime fans of Kasher's tension-and-release cold at first, but after repeated listens it probably hangs together better than any other Good Life release.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    Seeing Things
    There are pleasant moments, but by any measure Seeing Things as a whole is rather bland and featureless.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    Make Sure They See My Face
    Kenna has the indie roots to bridge the gap between pop and everything left of center. This effort has already created some stir between the two. My only concern is that the album's lack of balance may make for a one hitter quitter.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    Everywhere At Once
    So here we are, with the record Shimura smartly did not title Same Shit, Five Years Later…, because that would've made it slightly easier to tell he's stuck in his own brain.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    Congratulations
    MGMT seem determined to break the mold they made for themselves, and while they deserve credit for trying, the outcome just isn't as much fun as the MGMT whose tunes could punch up movie trailers.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Milk White Sheets
    When the sun comes out, you'll want to put Milkwhite Sheets away for a long time. It leaves you with an inexplicable chill and a sense that Campbell overplayed her hand.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Nouns
    You'll find yourself wondering if Nouns is really all that good or if you're just shocked to hear such songs on a No Age record.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Baby 81
    The creative engine has stalled on Baby 81.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Or Give Me Death
    Terry has clearly reached a new level of musical maturity on this album, but flirting with sounds that don't quite fit in the face of such progression only keeps Or Give Me Death from fully harnessing his newfound growth.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    In Defense Of The Genre
    In Defense of the Genre does defeat the emo stigma and the double CD stigma easily, and does improve slightly on the pretty-good "…Is a Real Boy." But these are minor inventions; any "genius" is pretty much limited to the bites and nuggets reported here.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    You Are There
    Like an undergrad philosophy student, Mono would be much more likeable if they didn’t try to sound so deep all the time.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    The Life Of The World To Come
    The Life of the World to Come isn't exactly a head-nodding compendium to the Good Book as much as a shoulder-shrugging desire for surrender. For some, an album with such strong religious overtones may distance those disenchanted with the church.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Discover A Lovelier You
    Yes, the album sounds beautiful - there's little doubt about that - but living solely on a good sound isn't enough.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Cansei De Ser Sexy
    Cansei De Ser Sexy is an intriguing group with a lot of budding talent and real potential.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Employment
    Kaiser Chiefs manage find their footing early on and this success forgives them their meanderings later on the disc.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Tourist
    Fun, emotional, experimental-ready and personally uplifting.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Joan Of Arc, Dick Cheney, Mark Twain...
    While Joan of Arc’s latest is a relative failure as an album when compared to everything else coming out in indie-rock these days (dropping them under .500 in my book), it is a winning effort, relative to the whole of the Joan of Arc/Tim Kinsella catalog.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    More Fish
    More Fish has a fishy flavor and smell but has little else resembling the hard-hitting potency of its mind numbing predecessor, Fishscale.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Heaven Is Whenever
    It's a pretty good album if you can get the idea of its dreary additions to their setlists out of your head.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    World's Apart
    Review #1: As pandering as the lyrics may be, they could be forgiven if the songs still brought the rock, and they don’t. [score=35]; Review #2: Worlds Apart is stunning. [score=95]
    • 84 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    This Is Happening
    It's whether or not This Is Happening stands on its own merits as original composition consistent with the quality of the LCD catalog. It falls short on both accounts, unfortunately, in what basically amounts to a final victory lap for a band that made its mark and doesn't have much more to say.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Hourglass
    For the most part Dave Gahan has a lot of catching up to do after his lackluster solo debut, and Hourglass, while an improvement, will likely suffer from the continued fallout of "Paper Monsters."
    • 62 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Hey People!
    Like The Replacements in the early days, The Beautiful New Born Children are a glorious mess, gleefully bashing out songs in 4/4 time without much regard for melody or variety.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Wolfmother
    Their strength lies in the fact that the threesome are capable rockers with conviction, and just enough irony to make it work.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Haughty Melodic
    Where Soul Coughing was defying specific genres and pushing norms, Skittish was scaled back, raw; Haughty Melodic is plugged in, not quite as downtrodden and surprisingly accessible.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Narrow Stairs
    Ben Gibbard has shown growth which each successive release, and made the jump to hooky pop-songsmith with the Postal Service's (apparently) one-off collaboration, but Narrow Stairs feels stagnant, devoid of even the superficial pleasures present on Plans.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    A Gun Called Tension
    While the album fails as a cohesive and sharp sounding endeavor all the way through, it certainly showcases a creative effort that can’t be faulted.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Have One On Me
    Newsom's brilliant but reckless songwriting resulted in eighteen tracks, each with an EP's worth of creativity and talent. But why stop editing an overlong listening experience there? Treating each song as an independent entity isn't such a bad idea.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Hera Ma Nono
    Overall, Hera Ma Nono left a good impression with several notable points, however, there will be no drooling this time around.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Futures
    Futures is the sound of a band playing it safe.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Blue Eyed In The Red Room
    Although the mid-record change in direction provides breathing space, it begs the question whether the album was truly in need of any.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    The Portrait Is Finished & I Have Failed To Capture Your Beauty...
    The pair accomplished what they set out to do, but by no means are they causing any whiplash with the results.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Out Of Nothing
    If only Embrace gave us more of the spacey, Mercury Rev-style psychedelia of "Near Life" (sans McNamara's poorly mumbled vocals), it'd be easier to forgive their lack of imagination.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Little Joy
    While the similarities to Morretti's other group are what make Little Joy so easy to digest, they are also what make it seem somewhat unremarkable.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Give Blood
    This style of mock-rock doesn’t have a long shelf life, as the songs cease to be funny and hipsters will inevitably find a new way to offhandedly make fun of/glorify themselves.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Several Arrows Later
    At times perplexingly distant.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 64 Critic Score
    Washington Square Serenade
    All things considered, Washington Square Serenade is a bit nonchalant by Earle's standards.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 64 Critic Score
    Devotion
    When they hit even small strides, like the album's murky single 'Gila,' the relief is like a breath of ocean air. Otherwise, for the most part, the admittedly pretty songs simply fade away, like footprints in the sand.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 64 Critic Score
    Exiting Arm
    For however much this album is worth berating, there's no denying that Subtle are an extremely talented group of musicians, and ExitingARM is not so much a fuck-up as it is a trial in exploring limitations.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    Face Control
    An interesting listen, Face Control has an eerie vibe, as though something beneath the surface is just a bit off.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    In The Future
    Those listeners who recognized Black Mountain as one in a long line of inward looking, backward thinking bands will find that In The Future ups the ante. That's not automatically a great thing, and it means that Black Mountain will yet again be greeted with abundant I know what you're doing and I don't like it reactions.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 62 Critic Score
    Diamond Hoo Ha
    Regardless of lyrical legitimacy, the sentiment is captivating, but across the album as a whole this substance is fleeting, and is what fans will be missing the most.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 62 Critic Score
    Brain Thrust Mastery
    Things get really sketchy, in the sense that most of the tunes are just that, sketches, with an arrangement or melodic idea worth pursuing that doesn't reach high enough.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Mr. Brown
    As gorgeous as Sleepy’s voice can be, lyrically the album is lacking.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Greedy Baby
    Fail[s] to constantly engage the listener.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Beatific Visions
    For every hit, there exists a miss.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Strawberry Jam
    The Collective's aspirations come off as bland and blurry, as if aspiration alone was the sole goal for this jam, spread out over three quarters of an hour.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    All Years Leaving
    Familiarity can be a good thing, but The Stands get plain fresh, crossing the line between feeling safe and feeling violated.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Fasciinatiion
    That Fasciinatiion isn't a revelatory departure is not to say that it is completely without merit. It is, however, undeniably lacking an air of excitement.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Morning Tide
    Despite its faults, Morning Tide will no doubt satisfy fans of crafty pop and have them dancing and singing.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    In The Reins [EP]
    Most of these tracks can be found on the Internet in their original Iron & Wine incarnations, and all but one sounds 100% better that way.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Cloud Making Machine
    There is a feeling of being sucked into a mid-90s vortex here.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    In The Clear
    Everything goes smoothly on In the Clear, with no real highs or lows, so to speak, and as such it unrolls without much fanfare or energy.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    With A Cape And A Cane
    With a Cape and a Cane feels more like it was made by a band of salty old musicians hoping to revive a past success instead of a sophomore album.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ideal Lives
    Once through, we realize Ideal Lives does not feel unified, which is exactly what makes it so interesting but also so difficult to fully embrace.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Dangerous Dreams
    Dangerous Dreams is a passable album that never achieves greatness, nor does it fail miserably, rather residing with the mundane.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Together
    For some reason, the band seemed to strip things down on this album, as the tracks are less sophisticated and experimental than on previous works, (which is fine for most bands, but for ones that aspire to keep their crown at the forefront of indie-pop, just not going to cut it).
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness
    Decent and decadent, Good Apollo is still ultimately the least of the band’s 3 full lengths. It continues the band’s tradition for experimentation, with melodies breaking through the chaos but it is less successful and equally disappointing with no new tricks.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Make Believe
    Some songs are worth a listen, but the overall package sounds and feels redundant and, putting myself at the mercy of =W= fans everywhere, renders itself irrelevant.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Out-Of-State Plates
    We know in their perfect pop moments, Fountains of Wayne can be inspiring, but Out-of-State Plates proves that in imperfection, they can wear even the most admiring fans out.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Palookaville
    Even the songs that rise above the simple looped-beat formula don’t have much to offer.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Closing In
    For devote metal heads, Early Man may represent a renaissance of the original, pure metal sound that started it all. For everyone else, Closing In will be received as a retro novelty rather than a serious musical accomplishment.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    An Other Cup
    Skipping over a few songs, such as "When Butterflies Leave" and "Whispers From A Spiritual Garden" — because who wants to hear spiritual babbling when Islam can sing so diatonically correct — the album flourishes into a masterpiece of sincerity to its core.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Return The Gift
    The problem is simply that Gang of Four got Entertainment! right the first time, whether they like it or not.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Secret Migration
    The Secret Migration has the power to cast a spell over you with its dreamy, wraithlike keyboards. Many won't fall for it, though, and will undoubtedly find them too melodramatic.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Backspacer
    Ultimately at this point, the songs that I'm most attracted to are still the slower, more intuitive weepers showcasing Vedder's voice, and alas, such simplicity is scarce on Backspacer.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Curses
    Cash grab? Perhaps. Phoning it in? Maybe. Or maybe it’s their attempt to open up to a new crowd - but whatever it is it’s better left as an experiment.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Can I Keep This Pen?
    They can't be accused of not making spirited music, but Northern State are still looking for the right words to express their sensible worldview.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 59 Critic Score
    Vapours
    Earlier pieces that amused or excited the listener have given way to more approachable sounds constantly on the verge of blending in completely. While seldom bad and almost wholly listenable, Vapours proves to be a bland disappointment from a group of usually creative musicians.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 59 Critic Score
    The Monitor
    At times the running-on-fumes punk benefits The Monitor's overall sound. But the problem is that the songs that surround the defined centerpieces sound undeveloped or just plain fall flat, particularly early on when we hear about a supposed hero covered in excrement and piss as a dramatic plot-point.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 56 Critic Score
    Once Upon A Time In The West
    Once Upon A Time is simply derivative, a rehash of the band itself.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Black Acetate
    Where Cale flaps up is in not allowing himself enough space for nuance atop his overdriven guitars, forcing the deployment of gaudy keyboard settings to match the guitars’ "intensity" and even fumbling into a bona fide mall-punk chorus in "Perfect."
    • 64 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Church Gone Wild / Chirpin Hard
    Hill’s disc captures everything that’s easy to hate about Hella.... Seim’s album, on the other hand, is easily the most fully-realized work to bear the Hella name.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Shut Up I Am Dreaming
    Shut Up’s biggest downfall is it’s speed, or lack thereof. The songs lilt and twirl with Krug’s yelp, xylophones and processed guitars, but rarely does the pace exceed ballad-like levels.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Nightcrawler
    Nightcrawler is essentially a sequence of fourteen overproduced songs that bleed into one another. Mind you these are not bad songs... But there is an overwhelming feeling that he is merely going through the motions.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Let There Be Morning
    Too familiar, too gloomy and too bland.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Astro Coast
    Even at its best this whole record sounds like a band who wants to make an impact by trying to be everything to everyone. And because they're not too good at everything they do yet, this lack of a definitive identity that makes it difficult to take them seriously (or if this is their definitive identity, they're just boring).
    • 61 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    The Difference Between Houses And Homes: Lost Songs And Loose Ends 1995-2001
    A handful of these recordings show promise, and should prove enjoyable for diehards and newcomers alike.... These standouts sadly don’t compensate for the rest of the album’s general blandness.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Let Them Drink
    Although they do show some potential, the Capitol Years do not rightfully deserve the hype they are getting.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    In Our Nature
    As it is now, decidedly un-personal, In Our Nature falls flat.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Stealing Of A Nation
    Overly polished and far too artificial.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 54 Critic Score
    Wilco (The Album)
    To simply not want to skip tracks isn't exactly saying anything, and certainly not that Wilco has made any kind of return to relevance. But Jeff the person is doing just fine, and instead of chastising this release, let's be happy that the guy who gave us more serious, occasionally harrowing masterpieces such as Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot finally seems to be having some fun. Next time it'd be nice if he let us in on it.
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