Where 'The Remote Part' was their 'Green'-esque lunge into the spotlight, 'Warnings/Promises' is their full-blwon 'Out Of Time' spectacular. But with less twangle, more teeth. [5 Mar 2005, p.50]

This might be their ‘reflective’ effort, but it’s classic MV.

This is an album to be held close to your heart and revered as psych-pop scripture.

Just when you think Audio Secrecy can get no more infuriating, you find the most overwrought of the ballads lodging their tunes inside the melodic part of your cranium.

The first disc here was made with several different collaborators certainly doesn't lend cohesion.

It reasserts Benson's standing as one of America's greatest songwriters.

For the most part, his rasping punk is a sexy but grotty treat.

When the energy levels fall off entirely on the maudlin piano-powered closer ‘Never Again’, Idiots' early signs of promise seem a pleasant but distant memory.

Besides ‘It Is Only You’ and ‘Here Comes The Storm’, the mountain-shouting bravado of old tracks like ‘Borders’ and ‘Put You In Your Place’ has been dampened, but TSU is an intriguing new sunrise.

Melodramatic ballads like 'Secret Love Song' and 'Love Me Or Leave Me' aren't as entertaining, but they're outweighed by the sassy kiss-offs of 'Hair' ("He was just a dick and I knew it") and 'Grown' ("Your voice dropped and you thought you could handle me").

Despite being a record of two halves, ‘My Turn’ is an enjoyable collection of tracks for his loyal fans. He would do well, though, to stay away from the whiny sounds and rap with a little bit more clarity.

There's now something a bit crumbly, a bit rattly about E&TB. [17 Sep 2005, p.58]

The album title promises much in the way of forthright antagonism and the Jessie J hair she sports suggests some kind of ironic statement on the chart mainstream, but the content fails to deliver, save for two isolated moments.

He's nothing if not versatile. [16 Sep 2006, p.37]

Too often, Thumpers fall flat.

Their records once had a two-sided feel, Angus' songs lacking the drama of his sister's, Julia lacking her brother's restraint. Here, particularly on 'Death Defying Acts' and 'Little Whiskey', they've got the balance just right.

Only on ‘Nice To Be Dead’ does he veer into heavy guitar territory, but it fits seamlessly into the mix, making for not just his strangest set in years, but also his best.

This is a record that wipes the board clean. It's a record that will invigorate and re-energise.

This is music for message-board moderators and the greasy-haired sycophants who hang around too long after gigs, and precisely no-one else.

Not a bad choice for zoned-out afterhours sessions or long lost summer afternoons, but it's just too indifferent to recommend with any real conviction.

A lot of it is quite earnest, dealing with subjects like rejecting the mainstream (‘Run Boy Run’) and, on ‘I Love You’, unrequited love.

If the trimmings were removed from ‘It’s Only Me’, it might rival his previous releases – instead it’s a few notches shy of greatness

A few more like ‘College’ and ‘Figured It Out’, with their emotional weight and memorable choruses, and they’d be onto something.

Vek truly exploits the benefits of being in a one-man band: all instruments and ideas can be used as often or as sparingly as he likes; the feelings of the Mellotron and crumhorn session musicians do not need to be taken into account.

It is a one-trick album and they spunk away their best song, the incantatory ‘Shame On The Soul’, right at the start, but the aforementioned trick is, at least, an affecting, and very occasionally gorgeous, one.

Shangri La is basically more of the same, and for many of his fans, that’ll be more than enough. It would be a shame, however, if it was enough for Bugg, too.

These are well-penned tunes. They just don’t do anything special with them.

The result is not just unimaginative and lyrically anodyne--it’s boring.