An album of straight-up, dazzlingly well-realised British pop. [May 2004 p.92]

Four albums in and their metronomic nursery rhymes are still capable of delivering pop thrills. [June 2010, p. 104]

The arrival of his first child and Trumpism, shadowed by a friend's death, have filled Brighter Wounds with heightened bliss and anxiety. [Mar 2018, p.94]

A solo debut with am encyclopaedic range. [Mar 2016, p.96]

Rather than gaining urgency Tomboy instead feels rhythmically constrained and sonically muted. [May 2011, p.100]

If all of this sounds heavy gong, the soul and country moves and comparative lightness of the music throughout help to illuminate the darkness. [Nov 2020, p.78]

Unessential, yes, but hardly uninteresting. [Feb 2004, p.101]

While it still whispers, this third endeavour works its way into your soul.

No great surprises, then, but as aurally seductive as ever. [Mar 2004, p.101]

Songs like the Breeders-worthy single Doubt reveal serious song-writing smarts. [Nov 2023, p.94]

Great to have back that little razor edge that Lytle loses when he steps away from his bandmates, but this might be the last time he gets away with it without a major rethink. [Apr 2017, p.96]

Angels Of Destruction continues a rich tradition forged in the bars of their hometowns. [Feb 2008, p.105]

Strings, gospel choirs, outeros inspired by Queen--the Manics' 10th album cranks up the drama, but in their hands grandiose needn't be a dirty word. [Oct 2010, p.94]

Ben Chasny's annual solo folk extravaganza. [March 2011, p. 95]

Pissed Jeans might deal in uncompromising, near-unlistenable noise, but in a world gone increasingly crazy, their scourging hi-jinks make more and more sense. [Mar 2017, p.94]

A mix of pulsing, oven-ready bangers and darker reflections, Freakout/Release exudes the confidence of a band operating at its giddy peak. [Sep 2022, p.91]

[Jackie] is another near-masterpiece. [Apr 2017, p.93]

A sprawling Daphni DJ set in microcosm, Butterfly is feel-good music of the purest kind. [Mar 2026, p.89]

It's the skill of Tabor, the lyric interpreter, that is most telling and, predominately set around atmospheric piano and accordion arrangements, this deeply affecting collection of sea stories demonstrates the core of her art almost to perfection. [Mar 2011, p.108]

[A] terrific LP, which depicts a sickness at the heart of America with a confident swagger and righteous anger.

The Eraser is less crabbed, cryptic or violently bitter than Hail To The Thief... and is often more satisfying for that. [Aug 2006, p.86]

An hour of absorbing rhythmic transport, The Visitor fully satisfies the brief. [Aug 2013, p.84]

Rave Tapes does not find Mogwai colonising new territory, but that seems fair when their own stretch of land is still giving up such gold. [Feb 2014, p.89]

Not the Holy Grail that was promised... But considering what material is present, the set plays like a fairly compelling musical narrative. [Dec 2004, p.120]

A good listen. that slightly misses the debut's exuberant cohesion. [Aug 2014, p.86]

Despite its lulls, Ashes & Fire sounds like a new beginning. [Nov 2011, p.101]

The Bros' songs mostly rollick on witrh the agreeably vaudevillian bonhomie of The Band, when not essaying gloom with swooningly lachrymose balladry. [June 2008, p.114]

[Lekman] delivers a buoyant, frankly heart-wrenching, autobiographical album. [Oct 2012, p.86]