Too wholesome for some, perhaps, but the melodies are reassuringly strong. [Oct 2002, p.96]

Paper Gods feels like a Duran Duran-shaped helium balloon, impressive, shiny, but oddly empty inside. [Oct 2015, p.96]

An excursion into invention, forsaking preparation for nuggets of inspiration and a degree of rootless wander. [May 2023, p.89]

While Khruangbin's own cover of Kool & The Gang's Summer Madness is a technical knock-out, the two-punch combination of Maxwell Udoh's inaptly titled Nigerian disco landmark I Like It (Don't Stop) and David Marez's florid Ensename is distinctly below the belt. [Jan 2021, p.100]

A melancholic air pervades Mist's untutored playing and soul-searching raps. [Jun 2021, p.90]

It's possible that it all makes rather more sense to the creators than it does to the listeners. [Jan 2014, p.102]

Its echoes of '60 Brit Invasion rock, arch lyrics and prime Pollard song-title jibber will sound more familiar. [Feb 2015, p.96]

Even if consistency isn't their bag, Pond have genius at their fingertips. [Apr 2015, p.96]

It's deliciously hauntingly odd. [May 2018, p.93]

There's nothing staggeringly new happening here, but it's all deftly delivered and sure to find favour. [Mar 2011, p.106]

At its best, Weather Diaries rejuvenates their burn-it-down guitars ad pretty vacancy. ... But some of the old problems remain: a thin lyrical wash, an occasional plod. [Jul 2017, p.86]

The hardest working man in indie rock today shows no sign of taking a break. [Feb. 2011, p. 100]

Explores Incubus' inner jam band. [Feb 2004, p.94]

A record to give reigning empress of dancefloor diversity Roisin Murphy a run for her hard earned. [Jul 2016, p.95]

Raft is a woozy drift between euphoria and unease. [Aug 2017, p.31]

Darnielle is a lyrical genius, for sure, but... you're left wishing for a song, just one song, that doesn't sound like a man strumming or plucking that damned folky guitar. [Mar 2004, p.96]

Recorded using vintage hardware, the guitar sound is as rich as tiramisu. [Jun 2014, p.95]

It may not eclipse past achievements but does point to a genuine way forward in a dignified and spiritual manner. [Jul 2013, p.84]

Former Miles Kane sideman McGuinness concocts his fifth solo record with solid powerpop. [Aug 2014, p.96]

As things are, it's an above-par, straight-ahead roots-revival collection, its full-blown "outernational" arrangements lit up by world-class brass and occasional splashes ofsynth. [Aug 2013, p.86]

The Pace of The Passing is, ultimately, oddly inscrutable, a musical ghosting, seductive, meticulous textures elegant compensation for the lack of a strong centre. [Feb 2017, p.90]

It's when they change gear, on the likes of Old Stuff, New Glass, which goes into a funk workout reminiscent of ESG, or on the Orange Juice-flavoured likes of 48 Percent or Blue Suitcase (Disco Wrist)--whose reverb and chiming guitars leans towards post-punk idea of reggae--that The Orielles excel. [Mar 2018, p.97]

Far from punching predictable button, these reconstructed mischief-makers excel when locking electro horns with primal motorik grooves. [Apr 2019, p.94]

It's core is stop-start, angular digital transmissions entwined with acoustic piano and smokey analogue-synth interludes. [Apr 2013, p.95]

McPherson puts authenticity over self-expression with style. [Apr 2015, p.96]

The results may finally help them to escape the label of a light-hearted Fall with singer Eddie E. Smith. [Jun 2009, p.96]

Trio from Whittier, south-east Los Angeles, make debut on Britney's label. [Feb. 2011, p. 101]

There are times... when the stripping-down of The Jayhawks' aesthetic reveals [Gary Louris'] designs to be uncomfortably slight. [Apr 2003, p.92]

The result is confusing, as with any roots artist messing with synths and beats. Even so, when he doing his familiar stark, keening vocal and raw country-blues thing and sentimental lighters-aloft pop, he's still deeply impressive. [Jul 2016, p.92]

Another helping of skew-whiff artiness from teh oddball Casady siblings. [June 2010, p. 99]

Her more organic songs stand out melodically amid layers of modern production mulch. [Sep 2017, p.96]

Kiss & Tell, although superbly polished and instrumentally powerful, suffers from a claustrophobic sheen. [Aug 2004, p.99]

Paint A Room’s hooks work in unassuming ways, carrying mid-’80s Creation vibes à la Weather Prophets or Westlake. [Sep 2024, p.86]

If Perpetual Surrender had elements of woozy, chillwave, Familiar Touch is full-scale yacht-rock sophistication, with honed chorus hooks and silken arrangements rippling with precision curves. [Jan 2017, p.94]

Only two original members remain--David Thomas, also of Pere Ubu, and bass guitarist Craig Bell--and their approach feels oddly inconsistent. [Dec 2015, p.90]

Tunes abound, performances are slick, and all 13 songs boast a hook or two. [Jan 2018, p.88]

[If You're Dreaming] has a strong vintage feel. [May 2020, p.88]

A lesser work compared to, say, 2008's Nude With Boots, Tres Cabrones nevertheless stomps with enough sulphurous, slothful might to satisfy the faithful. [Jan 2014, p.102]

Basic themes remain unchanged. [Apr 2019, p.89]

Perfect for Twin Peaks' Bang Bang bar, but at 90 minutes duration its lesser parts drag like an over-indulgent director's cut. [Oct 2022, p.87]

Fifth album from former Afghan Whigs mainman's collective. [Apr. 2011, p. 94]

Much of Why Are You OK may be lush and beautiful, but there are too many rambling tracks to put it up with Bridwell's best. [Jul 2016, p.95]

An album which makes his previous excesses seem conservative.... Dazzling though this bombardment is, it's a draining experience. [Jul 2001, p.97]

25 25's monomaniacal quest for the ultimate groove occasionally leaves the listener behind. [Sep 2016, p.96]

Total Depravity strives to add something new to the mix but Andrews' habitual preoccupations keep The Veils from moving forward. [Sep 2016, p.96]

2 is the sound of war, famine and pestilence wiith a spoonful of sexual frustration; often silly but always fun. [Jul 2011, p.106]

When harnessed, Taylor Hawkins' energy is the right stuff. [Jan 2020, p.85]

Their narrative of cosmic self-realisation may be a touch familiar, but overall Electric Eye are mightily far-sighted. [Jan 2018, p.92]

She's an adept songwriter and lyricist, but the album's immutable modern poo production can start to pale. [Feb 2019, p.93]

Bare bones it may be, but it's still recognizably David Gray. [Sept. 2010, p. 102]

When Hucknall pulls a performance only the most blinkered would argue he brings nothing to the party. [Dec 2012, p.86]

A perfect starting place for Holter neophytes, In The Same Room doesn't really add much to her extant discography. [Apr 2017, p.96]

This solo debut sits her ripe, occasionally darkly brooding voice--Rachel Sweet with a hatchet--against grungy country and knowing '60s vibes. [Apr 2017, p.93]

The synths are generally leaner and the production darker, while guitars butt in for the grungy turmoil of Bitch and Mary Magdalene. [Jul 2019, p.86]

With its profusion of delicate acoustic guitar arpeggios and fine string arrangements by Beck's father David Campbell, much of the rest of IRM steers a more organic, at times almost skiffle-like path, but the twist is Gallic melancholy. [Feb 2010, p. 93]

It's a globe-trotting celebration of jerky, angular tempos. [Jul 2019, p.86]

He wastes half his solo debut dishing out second rate filler. Thankfully, his true colours shine through on I Still Wanna, Raid and Trouble On My Mind ... although they're frustrating glimpses of a potent artist coasting too readily on past glories. [Jan 2012, p.99]

Neither great nor golden, then, but not bad either.

A solid collection of angst anthems. [Oct 2015, p.98]

Await Barbarians reminds of Alex Chilton or even Liam Hayes's earliest music as Plush. [Jul 2014, P.87]

The nine tracks sound pleasingly out of step with contemporary norms. [Feb 2022, p.91]

Get Hurt proves the balance between The Gaslight Anthem's Springsteenesque heroism and their punk fire is key to keeping them from tumbling into the trite. [Sep 2014, p.88]

This latest peculiar twist in the Bunnymen saga affirms the songs resilience, as well as the virtue of bravery. When the new versions mimic their predecessors, the project feels redundant. [Nov 2018, p.93]

Any fears that Deaner may have matured during his absence are summarily nipped in the bud by the most puerile collection of ditties since, well, Ween. [Jan 2017, p.94]

Thile's creations rarely boast a singalong factor, but deliver on terms of sheer musicality. [Feb 2018, p.98]

The growling menace of his [Jake Smith's] delivery is enough to command your attention and keep you believing. [Oct 2012, p.83]

Western and Middle Eastern influences collide in a glitchy and rhythmically experimental union. [May 2016, p.96]

The awe fades quickly as this album progresses. [Jun 2003, p.100]

Tucker has created an album that should endear her to those who still raise the outlaw flag while also appealing to hard-edged pop-tinged rock believers. [Oct 2019, p.83]

The material is uneven. [Jun 2014, p.95]

The warm glow that they engender is palpable, but you do wonder what may happen if The Field broke free from the constraints of the loop. [Jan 2012, p.99]

Another Day, another faff-free, one-session-apiece exercise in succinctness, for a sixth long-player which presents Fucked Up as a more highly evolved version of their old selves – dense, intense and to-the-point. [Sep 2024, p.88]

Corgan's floatier tunes and chocolate-box lyrics actually suit this sound palette well, but, as so often in pop - and Corgan's - history, a 10-track single LP would've nailed it better. [Jan 2021, p.86]

For all their assiduous construction and heartfelt subject matter, Sheff's songs struggle to match the abundant hook-line quotient of his youthful influences and inspiration. [Nov 2013, p.88]

Something about Jet doesn't quite ring true. [Dec 2006, p.106]

This is a unified album. [Oct 2012, p.91]

Hello Happiness is indeed groove heavy, but gives too little for a singer of Chaka's ability to, well, sing - which is a shame, because on the occasions she does find space to stretch out her soaring voice seems to have retained its strength, tone and power. [Mar 2019, p.96]

Traces lines to both Bill Callahan's downbeat philosophising and Jonathan Richman's crafted wit and primal rock'n'roll chug. [Nov 2023, p.94]

While Desert Skies' fusion of '60s country-rock with '90s underground dynamics doesn't move ass deeply as 2001's sublime Once We Were Trees, its peaks prove Beachwood Sparks' early days are worth investigating. [Jan 2014, p.103]

The assured Eating Us proves that distractions aren't necessary. [Jul 2009, p.93]

Develop the creepy incantations into songs and they might really grab some shirtfronts. [Jul 2009, p.107]

The overall feeling, despite all the musical mix'n'matching is of a traditional record: a rootsy return, rather than a copy of a certain Canadian seven-piece art-rock racket. [Jul 2009, p.105]

Pugnacious indie squares up to all-comers. [Feb. 2011, p. 106]

To be fair, Sharpe, a dramatic alter-ego for leader/singer Alex Ebert, does corral a few tunes infectious enough to last the distance on Broadway. [Sep 2009, p.90]

Their ability to switch up styles at will can prove a little wearing, giving an uneven feel to an otherwise startling debut. [May 2012, p.83]

Brilliantly produced and performed, rather than astoundingly well written. [Jun 2004, p.112]

The best moments find Deerhoof unadulterated, like the angular tropicalia of Begin Countdown, or drummer Greg Saunier's Prefab Sprout-like Ay That's Me. [Oct 2017, p.94]

Looting a Smithsy guitar line for Winter In The Hamptons or aping Steve McQueen-era Prefab Sprout on My Love Has Gone momentarily lifts Rouse's gloom, but it is scant relief from the stillness at Nashville's core. [Mar 2005, p.106]

[Doesn't] always make satisfactory listening. [Dec 2005, p.104]

Clapton's playing is still fluid. [Oct 2005, p.98]

Unlimited Love's sprawling 17 tracks almost inevitably include a few free-spirited missteps, with Aquatic Mouth dance and poster Child getting stuck in a groove. Nevertheless, an impressive consolidation of their strengths. [May 2022, p.89]

Sure, these blues are familiar, but at least these friends make 'em fun. [Aug 2023, p.82]

This record does not return [Ice Cube] to his early 1990s heyday, but proves he still has sufficient desire to make angry, focused music. [Aug 2006, p.90]

Pop, but still an album for reflection. [Nov 2013, p.89]

On a basic, gut-punching level they deliver with inarguable aplomb. [Feb 2016, p.92]

An album of mischievous melody, fairground keyboards, cut'n'paste aural collage and an undeniable love of pop all but buried in junk shop Dadaist clatter. [Oct 2007, p.106]

Arbouretum have reined in the Crazy Horse-gallop-on-for-hours excesses of earlier outings, for sharper impact. [Jan 2013, p.91]

This set stays faithful to Lennon's melodies - like meeting old friends in unexpected but comfy clothes. [Dec. 2011 p. 99]