Malakian's Scars On Braodway further explore his love of machine gun guitars, bongs for breakfast, scatological lyrics and permeating sense of paranoia. [Sep 2008, p.108]

Even without explicit elegies, there's a sense Morby is permanently watching something sink into the horizon, suspending what's left in beautiful songwriting amber. [Nov 2020, p.80]

It's all wonderful stuff here. [Dec 2012, p.85]

This is a record that manages to feel both trapped and rootless. [Aug 2018, p.90]

Alluring, if more cold brewed latte than electric kool aid. [Mar 2016, p.100]

Adventurous of chord-voicing but never showy, the band nail most of their zesty songs in well under three minutes. [Mar 2006, p.92]

An exercise in monolithic heaviness. [May 2006, p.98]

Guest appearances from the venerated likes of Percee P and M.E.D. and Mr Lif & Edan prove these Brothers' breakbeats more than pass muster. But it's the more adventurous instrumentals that impress most. [Mar 2010, p.92]

It is William's ever-distinctive voice, allied to a line in unfailingly attractive material that provides this release with a patina of timelessness. [Jul 2012, p.82]

Charmer is in essence an Americana and power-pop confection with piano and tasteful guitars swaddled in the choicest vintage tones. [Oct 2012, p.83]

Sung tentatively, a la Randy Newman. [Jun 2014, p.98]

Of the 12 heat-seeking tunes, Daughters sounds the best bets. [Mar 2016, p.100]

Muezzin duels with fellow tenorist Shabaka Hutchings hit the spot. [Jun 2016, p.97]

[Weatherall] indulges in more motorik rhythms, frazzled post-rock and glam rock beats. [Nov 2017, p.103]

There's a surfeit of hushed intros building to emotional crescendos, but the feeling is all real. [Nov 2019, p.96]

If Man Alive! treads a post-Ooz water, it's deep enough not to matter. [Apr 2020, p.95]

The boogie imperative on Knuckleball Express is less deconstructed than usual. [Jul 2020, p.84]

His retro-pop stylings are just as keenly observed and affable. [May 2025, p.93]

This is easily Battles' best album to date, the one you've always hoped they would make. [Oct 2015, p.95]

This is mature, tuneful and utterly approachable album. [Mar 2013, p.87]

This is a rariety--bright, soulful and (yes) clever pop. [Mar 2009, p.114]

Rather than delivering a post-modern mishmash, they effortlessly synthesise these elements, making themselves a candidate for the quintessential 21st century pop group. [Aug 2009, p.102]

Its loose theme is authority: on Curfew and Battery, beats hit like police baton rounds, sirens wail and every chord feels significant. [May 2016, p.91]

Stamey makes the most of a limited vocal range. [Mar 2005, p.104]

This successor is strings-free, but goes further still [than 2014's This Is My Hand]. [Apr 2019, p.94]

[A] hazy smoked-out amalgam of shoegaze, analogue synths and surf-pop harmonies. [Sep 2013, p.95]

Against this highly contemporary but ever-wacko sonic backdrop, the Upsetter orates magisterially. [Sep 2008, p.98]

This is a formidable leap forward. [Dec 2012, p.90]