Aloe Blacc swaggers with a charming insouciance on C'est Bon, which is an accurate description of Red Lips itself. [Jan 2017, p.94]

Side two, however, veers into arch Euro-pop (I Don't Have Control Sometimes) and moody balladry (Stand By Me), and Sunflower Bean's new-found confection begins to set one's teeth on edge. [Jun 2022, p.87]

This new album is as quixotic and wilfully idiosyncratic as his previous oeuvre. [Jan 2016, p.88]

The touchstones - Julee Cruise, Kate Bush, The Blue Nile - are more classic than experimental but the heartbreaking emotions remain utterly real. [Jun 2026, p.88]

These "little" songs have the feel of home-studio genesis, thanks to pitter-pattering drum machines, the unflashy layering of instruments, and the author's intimate lyrical reflections. [Feb 2016, p.94]

The sound's good and getting better - a wig-out of surf rock, Stooges-style punk and hardcore thrash, with the occasional Bambi noise of 1960's folk peeping round a tree. [Aug. 2011, p. 106]

Cupid Deluxe is wildly eclectic and nostalgic. [Jan 2014, p.97]

Politically astute, philosophical and profound, Ty's comeback is a tad too long, but only because he cares. [Apr 2018, p.92]

Their ongoing Heavy Rocks series plays things relatively straight, however, restricting their palette to metallic tones. Even so, this third volume rewrites the rulebook. An opening brace of tunes gallop like vintage Motorhead, if they were being chased by wild banshee saxophones. [Oct 2022, p.90]

Just as you're thinking "so far, so generic," they wrong-foot you, as their debut album starts to incorporate seemingly random elements of knock-kneed white reggae, snotty hardcore punk and snatched bar conversations. [Mar 2014, p.94]

A career-builder, if not a game-changer. [Jun 2019, p.89]

Faun Fables do gothic folk with admirable vigour and this is incontrovertible force of nature. [Jan 2011, p.104]

With four tracks topping 12 miutes, it's essentially a celebration of pre-punk boffin-rock, 'The Best Of Times 'and 'The Count Of Tuscany' both prog-metal masterpieces worthy of imperial-phase Rush. [Jul 2009,p.95]

The wrong kind of sonic adventure undermines about half the songs. A drop of Waitsian, drunken, junkyard percussion might have been just the ticket, but the plethora of drony guitar and keyboard distortions proves distracting, rather than "atmospheric", and impairs the effect of some strong songs including Back To Manhattan and Stuck. [Dec 2009, p. 88]

Despite berry's background in comedy there's definitely more of an air of homage than pastiche to this deliciously chilled album. [Jun 2014, p.90]

Contrasting extremes on emotionally literate, indie rock evocations. [Mar 2022, p.90]

Jaguwar don't reinvent the wheel, but their propulsive guitar rock intricacies bring all the right deep-sonic thrills. [Feb 2018, p.99]

He also works hard to bring variety within the gargantuan two-and-a-half-hour running time with an all-star guest list. [Jan 2016, p.89]

The whole thing is deeply marketable--but there's an authenticity in Rogers that needs more space to breathe. [Feb 2019, p.92]

The current group are concentrated, powerful, more subtle than in recent times but can sound a bit tidy and foursquare. [Apr 2015, p.96]

Only a slight dearth of killer melodies ... disappoints. [Apr 2012, p.86]

There is no doubt that Ditto can command the attention, but these songs don't quite sweeten the deal enough. [Jul 2017, p.89]

Hauff gives you the feeling that there's something very wrong, and leaves you to make up your own nasty stories. [Oct 2015, p.96]

It's great credit to both Lund and his versatile backing bad, The Hurtin' Albertans, that such see-sawing through genres can sound so much like a singular piece of work. [Dec 2015, p.93]

If the phosphorus-hot psychedelia of their first Hexadic record was too much for some ears, this subtly chance-infused union of magick and method should prove more inviting. [Jan 2016, p.90]

A coffee table record. [Jun 2007, p.114]

Intended as a chilly-pastoral instrumental cycle for piano, three cellos and string quartet, but Los Angles sound designer Jennifer Pague pitched lyrics for four tracks and a more personal narrative took shape, evoking solitude and morbidity. [Jun 2020, p. 93]

Alice still makes Marilyn Manson sound like Mickey Mouse. {Sep 2008, p.112]