Their music palette may be limited but their style knows no bound. [Dec 2016, p.92]

Played with a straight face rather than a raised eyebrow, the whole thing is a gas. [Dec 2016, p.92]

With shade and contrast added to the anthems, the songs emerge from a brooding, often restrained darkness so when Fray and co click into euphoric chorus gear they genuinely soar. [Dec 2016, p.92]

It's all as subtle as a flurry of punches in the face, but utterly uplifting. [Dec 2016, p.92]

It is striking how old school and immediate it sounds. [Dec 2016, p.90]

It's a giddy, breathless swirl of different sounds and styles. [Dec 2016, p.91]

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

With barbed lyrics and messy, thrumming guitars a Honeyblood speciality, things never get overly pretty on thes 11 tales of "horror, lust and laughs," while new Honeyblood drummer Cat Myers, successor to Shona McVicar, has bedded-in nicely. [Dec 2016, p.90]

One of this unlikely old master's most hauntingly satisfying works. [Dec 2016, p.90]

Walls is not a lovable album but if Kings Of Leon would rather be taken seriously these days, instead of simply being adored, they have put down a solid foundation. [Dec 2016, p.89]

In their hands, [a cover of Nina Simone's Assignment Song is] a hypnotic wonderwall of sound. [Dec 2016, p.89]

While they haven't suddenly become a different proposition, they are exploring structure and metre. [Dec 2016, p.88]

FLOTUS is highly processed, highly textured--and yet for the most part, it sounds surprisingly natural and unforced. [Dec 2016, p.86]

A Henry Rollins cameo in the title track is tantalising: were he a constant presence, this set would really spark. [Nov 2016, p.96]

On the minus side, The False Foundation lacks an overarching character, so plays out like a soundtrack or compilation. [Nov 2016, p.89]

The Shaggs couldn't play, they could barely sing and their songs are rudimentary, but you won't hear many records with such heartfelt authenticity of feeling. [Oct 2016, p.107]

Ramones is pretty much perfect. [Sep 2016, p.102]

The shared predilection for sub-Saharan styles is implicit, if not obscure, across Let It Be You's 10, expansively produced essays. [Nov 2016, p.89]

There's no difficult second album syndrome for laconi-pop crew Hooton Tennis Club. [Nov 2016, p.78]

Syd Arthur still dabble in jazz, folk, Krautrock and saucer-eyed psychedelia, but Apricity is a notable leap forward, even from 2014’s excellent Sound Mirror.

An impressive emotional ebb and flow on this heart-swelling debut solo effort. [Nov 2016, p.96]

There are mimics here but actually surprising few for a tribute. The best salutes to the famously fragile songwriter reincarnate his work in new guises. [Nov 2016, p.87]

This is an opaque and quietly intense missive. [Nov 2016, p.86]

Even if it's not quite the Pretenders, it's good to have Chrissy Hynde back. [Nov 2016, p.86]

Introspective, often forlorn and frequently mysterious, it's not an easy listen, but the delicate potency of Clarke's exceptional voice is a formidable saving grace. [Nov 2016, p.91]

It bursts with love--for family, for the power of musicianship, but most of all, like Lidell's hero Stevie Wonder, for the art of storytelling. [Nov 2016, p.88]

This is one of his most intense albums. It feels personal too. [Nov 2016, p.90]

The bonus material features a first release for the fabled "Mustique Demos": just Noel, a drum machine and Owen Morris's portastudio in the Caribbean, suggesting a humbler alternative might have been possible, had reality not intruded. [Nov 2016, p.102]