Rousing sedated melodies under a blanket of distortion. [Mar 2019, p.99]

Only the title track's gently jazzy diversion (Pt 1) and surprise operatics (Pt 2) shatter the wellness-retreat politeness. [Apr 2019, p.96]

Dreamers Are waiting is possibly the most Crowded House-sounding album crowded House have made since their Crowded debut. [Jul 2021, p.83]

More cohesive and less Britpop than 2018's Brickbat. More trenchant too. [Aug 2021, p.87]

Ian Devaney's tremulous tones and Michael Sue-Poi's melodic bass lines cutting deep on heartbroken ballads. [Dec 2021, p.94]

After 2008's The Hungry Saw simmered with a new, diehard energy, Falling Down A Mountain is more like climbing up. [Feb 2010, p. 103]

Brandon Flowers' commercial appeal holds steady on Imploding The Mirage under producers 13 and 14 Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado, who lather fidgety single Caution and When The Dreams Run Dry in fine '80s studio-wash. [Oct 2020, p.84]

It's lots of fun, a whirlwind romp through grubby rock landmarks. [May 2012, p.84]

The dozen songs, recorded in one take, make for an uncomfortable but absorbing trip. [Jan 2013, p.92]

You've heard it all before, but rarely done so well. [Mar 2014, p.98]

Much like Dirty Projectors, it takes an adventurous soul to absorb much of this. [Mar 2019, p.93]

It's pleasant but ultimately inessential stuff. Way better are the tunes where the tape echo effects kick in. [Oct 2019, p.82]

This isn't a great departure from The Coral but mainman James Skelly's increasingly witty words and ear for a killer jig put this in a loveable place of its own. [Aug 2003, p.95]

Espers III is brilliantly atmospheric, more chilling than chilled but also, frequently, very beautiful. [Dec 2009. p. 94]

While Two Suns almost inevitably finds Natasha Khan caught between the rock of artistic muse and the hard place of major label rockability, there's still invention and charisma enough here to keep both leftfield chin-stroker and ingenue fan onside for now. [Apr 2009, p.106]

The trade-off for this grandiloquent approach is that some of the songcraft has been swept away in the surge. [Nov 2011, p.93]

There is humour to the harsh, spangly electropop of tracks like Feel For You and Vampires, but in places the concept is a little too arch and pumped up, sounding like a teen Netflix drama. [Oct 2019, p.82]

Household Name is their Cannonball moment, supercharged pop that also acknowledges Smashing Pumpkins and Veruca Salt. Momma wear it well; celebrating, not denying, their inspiration. [Aug 2022, p.91]

She has found a new confidence in her sound. [Feb 2023, p.92]

If Bruce Springsteen or Steve Earle had created these blue-collar character sketches Here We Rest would be a return to their very best. At 32, however, Isbell seems to be just warming up. [Jul 2011, p.107]

You're left feeling less !!! than ??? [Apr 2007, p.102]

Five albums in, his music finally sounds as threadbare as his chosen eulogy, dropping any evidence of the richer--if still ragged--arrangements that launched his deeply affecting six-track debut. [Jul 2009, p.107

There are comeback and then there's the new Cult album opener. [Jun 2012, p.88]

Expands Casiotone For The Painfully Alone's frighteningly austere template to an almost symphonic level of opulence. [Jul 2006, p.102]

His spark remains undimmed. [Jul 2013, p.87]

[A] wonderfully scrappy debut. [Feb 2015, p.95]

This second LP moves country into enterprising, occasionally spooked spaces. [Nov 2019, p.96]

Their ninth record proves their distinctive spirit is still unbroken. The mood is knowingly mordant. [Jul 2024, p.84]