A third of these songs can rightly be claimed as classic Placebo pop. [Apr 2006, p.106]

As ever, it's best to not to take them too seriously. [Nov 2009, p.90]

The results can, surprisingly, prove as musically rewarding as they are entertaining.

He's made the album he should've made right after Maxinquaye -- i.e., a listenable one. [Jul 2001, p.112]

A richly rewarding album. [Nov 2002, p.114]

Despite one-time Rudimental leader Amir Amor's rather flat production and the dearth of all-out tub-thumpers beyond the wry The Lads, they've transformed themselves inti a differently beguiling proposition. [Mar 2024, p.88]

Drawing elements from both [previous albums], Horses And High Heels is a similarly accomplished if more playful affair. [Apr 2011, p.94]

Glow's most enduring memory might just be the grand '80s synth-pop---think Pet Shop Boys or Alphaville--of things To Say. [Apr 2014, p.93]

The sound of Beans returning to the hip hop that hatched him, remaking it in his image. [Dec 2004, p.100]

It's a soundtrack for rainswept, sodium-lit backstreets. [Feb 2005, p.101]

His most conventional and, frankly, dull [album] pursuing a plodding take on alt rock, in the uninteresting middle ground between early U2 and Stiltskin, with occasional dashes of doom-lite. [Aug. 2011, p. 101]

The Fratellis' third album is simple and uncomplicated. [Nov 2013, p.94]

Recorded using vintage hardware, the guitar sound is as rich as tiramisu. [Jun 2014, p.95]

A deeper dive into the grooves pays substantial dividends, not just with Doherty's impermeable gift for melody and neat turns of phrase but the intriguing torrent of witty self-examination. [Jun 2019, p.86]

It starts in fine fashion. ... Tellier's Auto-Tuned croon is unrelenting, and by the album's mid-point we're approaching the realms of self-parody. [May 2020, p.89]

The hardest working man in indie rock today shows no sign of taking a break. [Feb. 2011, p. 100]

None of these tunes conveys a fraction of the emotional ardour of those on the first (self-penned) Sun Kil Moon album. [Feb 2006, p.103]

Rice doesn't dismiss outright the folky troubadour charm that distinguished O, but here it's a springboard for jealousy, sex, misery. [Dec 2006, p.104]

It's clear that The Pop Group are back in full swing. [Dec 2016, p.90]

The ersatz '80s production, lyrical platitudes and soft focus atmospherics stray uncomfortably close to parody. [Jun 2013, p.85]

Only the faithful need apply. [Jul 2006, p.101]

In a crowded space, The Rakes have a place to call their own. [Apr 2007, p.96]

A clear rejuvenation, the occasional triteness that softened earlier work largely absent from these close-woven songs. [Nov 2003, p.125]

There's only fleeting glimpses of Jason's weakness for dimestore Minutemen angularity. [Sep 2002, p.104]

It's in essence a wordless, monochrome Television. [May 2006, p.104]

It's pleasingly dizzying, yet curiously coherent. [Feb 2016, p.98]

Chinese Democracy reveals itself to be an ambitious, brave and expansive offering. [Feb 2009, p.108]

In no way startling, but elegantly put-together all the same. [Jul 2014, p.92]