It's inspired genre-hopping and relentless invention resulting in a substantial and brilliantly sung career-best. [Nov 2012, p.85]

Martin Courtney's music is unsurprisingly like Real Estate's in that it comes at an unhurried tempo and sounds deceptively simple. [Nov 2015, p.94]

Believe You me is something of an art-house installation. [Oct 2012, p.86]

Black Cascade meshes razor-throated fundamentals with panoramic sweep, its four thunderous riff odysseys wreathed in soulful desolation. [May 2009, p.109]

They confidently harness the emotion-sapping melodramas of the '60s girl group. [Oct 2008, p.108]

The overall vibe is: It's a time for extremes, for ear damage, and KJ--ever exemplary in reactivation--deliver 'em in spades. [May 2012, p.83]

I Was a Cat from a Book is as warm as an all-enveloping blanket by the hearth. [Sep 2012, p.89]

Ragan's fifth album is rock as much as roots. [May 2014, p.91]

The resulting record never splashes too far out of the gene pool... but it creates a pleasing coherence along with a slightly sentimental glow. [Dec 2014, p.100]

Wright has unequivocally delivered her best album yet. [Oct 2015, p.94]

She may not over-emote, but Elsewhere still has burn marks around its emotional edges. [May 2015, p.97]

Most of these 11 new songs begin with Tutlle's solo finger-picking guitar, and it's lovely. So's her voice. [May 2019, p.90]

Often described as old beyond his years, on Fires For The Cold Tolchin has truly grown up. [Nov 2019, p.88]

Bid renders the album's picaresque litany of devious noblemen, murdered knights and debauched bishops with typically knowing aplomb. [Oct 2019, p.89]

While the lilting melodies suggest south-east Asia - as do, explicitly, a couple of spoken word passages - a wandering, spidery guitar generates an off-balance flavour. [Jul 2020, p.81]

Much of Hum has a brooding, measured Nick Drake-ish intensity, driven by fast, intricate folky picking. [Sep 2020, p.92]

Feels out of reach, as if shrouded in gauze. ... This may coalesce in a live setting. [Mar 2021, p.85]

Scintillating electronics that line-up nicely with the space pulsations of Terry Riley, Cluster, or 9coincidence?) Matthew Bower's Sunroof! [Jul 2021, p.90]

All told, an uproarious upgrade on the garage bashfest. [Dec 2022, p.86]

Warren's razor-sharp lyricism - and her ability to deliver hard truths and cold comforts s gracefully - ensure Lessons For Mutants is endlessly compelling. [Dec 2022, p.85]

Deer Tick impress with their pop nous and sheer verve. [Aug 2023, p.81]

Parr's front porch vocals and mesmerising guitar pickings mingle with mouth harp, backing vocals, piano, electric guitar and fiddle on an album full of wonder and love for the unloved. He really should invite friends round more often. [May 2024, p.91]

Viva Lone Justice reminds us of all that made the original line-up special. [Dec 2024, p.92]

Tracks such as the thunderous Six-Pack or The Fall Of Paul might clang with dissonant noise or pinball off into a riot of machine gun rhythms, but it's generally not at the expense of songs that a festival crowd could bellow back at them. [Apr 2023, p.83]

This album is brazenly in hock to the shoulder pad decade. Its telegraphed choruses will not be denied. [Jun 2015, p.88]

The effect is a bit like pleasantly nodding off to a Mazzy Star record and, like the smoke off the titular post-coital gaspers, the intoxicating atmosphere lingers long after the tracks have played out. [Sep 2017, p.88]

The interplay between Stephen McBean's laconic drawl and Amber Webber's gothic-tinged wail remains their secret weapon, lending a lean bite to this hefty psychedelic behemoth. [May 2016, p.93]

Smile finds them advancing that set melodic agenda and playful rearrangement of classic rock DNA. [June 2008, p.109]