Moon-June-balloon lyricism can let him down, but when he;s good (see Smiths-ish portrait song John) he's great. [Dec 2018, p.94]

All in all, Duck is the sound of a band trying way too hard. [Sep 2019, p94]

It all thumps along agreeably with a brio seldom found in rock today by artists a quarter of his age. [Dec 2019, p.92]

Move, a blistering collision of heavy rock and Latin pop. The remainder of the album ranges from percussive jazz-rock and bouncy Latin Techno to febrile thrash metal. [Dec 2021, p.87]

More coherent than some rejigged castoffs ought to be. [Oct 2022, p.84]

There are perky alt-pop nuggests aplenty here, so it's a shame the momentum can't be maintained. [Jun 2009, p.96]

Evokes a sense that this has all been done before, and better.

There hasn't been quite enough time yet for them to construct much of a unique sonic indentity. [Aug 2009, p.94]

Surgery won't catapult the group into the realm of all-time greats, but it's certainly a move in the right direction. [Sep 2005, p.92]

PlectrumElectrum, the band set, although rockier and fuller, is just as random [as Art Official Age]. [Nov 2014, p.90]

Sports is more circumspect and subtle. Yet when the hooks of White Pebbles, Bad Rockets or Syncing In slyly take hold, the effect is indelible. [Mar 2017, p.97]

Chic, soulful, but more boom and swoon than hooks. [Feb 2015, p.96]

A crash, bang, wallop delivery, plus an organic fuzz, like stubble against a microphone, colour 'Headshock' and 'Le Ruse,' but smart arrangements and Josh Grier's slackjawed, cryptic confessionals tap into something beyond blokey bluster. [June 2008, p.106]

Astonishingly, her own production makes much of this guff zing along with dirty guitars or big drum beats and improbably insinuating choruses. [Apr 2002, p.100]

An overreaching cathedral, designed by Spiritualized, Kris Kristoferson and John Barry, Human Conditions still somehow charms with its hungry troubadour's idealism. [Nov 2002, p.102]

The perfect vehicle for Eitzel's gorgeous, weary voice and wry, savage humour. [June 2002, p.106]

Hearing Aidan Moffat in such jocose mood on his first song-based record without Malcolm Middleton is quite the revelation. [Apr 2009, p.99]

Mercifully, the venerable Big Star franchise emerges pretty much unsullied. [Oct 2005, p.108]

The new dad has ditched the gap-year spirituality to reach for a more adult world where poverty, war and uncertainty must be confronted, and it's a world beyond his expressive abilities. [Mar 2008, p.102]

The tune count is mainly healthy, with the super-exuberance of Is This A Breakdown, Grapes Upon The Vine's echoes of 1983's Porcupine, and a second-half pursuit of the epic culminating in the soaring, redemptive New Horizons. [Jun 2014, p.88]

Equal parts tantalising, frustrating, and riveting. [Jan 2001, p.106]

Darkly neurotic, it captures the on-the-road loneliness and sense of dislocation perfectly. [Jun 2011, p.97]

Wield[s] both a wistful poignancy and raw emotional undertow. [Aug 2006, p.94]

You finish listening to 18 feeling as if you've heard a decaffeinated version of Play. [June 2002, p.98]

You're left with the uncomfortable sensation of having walked in on six serious young men, lost in their own indie-rock majesty. [Jun 2006, p.110]

There's the unmistakable whiff of eternal under-achievement that pervades cute but forgettable ditties like 'Share Of Men' and 'Heartbroke.' [Oct 2007, p.98]

Whatever the style, Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone’s music is executed with wholehearted passion and technical precision.

There's a freshness uncommon to fortysomething men two decades into their career. [Oct 2004, p.110]