Tracks on here like ‘Fine’ and the aforementioned ‘Racist, Sexist Boy’ are vital, powerful bursts of punk fury. Yet when they let their pop music imaginations run free it’s equally impressive, with tracks like ‘Growing Up’, ‘Talking To Myself’ and ‘Magic’ showcasing a gift for catchy, singalong choruses.

It’s well executed, quite odd, highly original and full of promise--exactly what you want from a debut album.

An urgent, free-wheeling bundle of fun, You Can’t Steal My Joy is a debut that adds joy to new wave.

The band have responded with their most stylistically hatstand-but-indisputably-best songs yet.

He's turned in an electronic album that’s full of character without resorting to robot costumes or Pharrell bloody Williams.

A charged effort with dynamic results, ‘Karma 3’ may not be as flawless a spectacle as ‘Survival’, but it’s not all that far off. And it’s definitely the best entry in the ‘Karma’ series. East remains consistent, unapologetically flying the flag for New York hip-hop.

Colourful and unconventional throughout, Knockin’ Boots keeps Julio Bashmore’s reputation for bangers firmly intact.

As intelligent, bittersweet, angular stuff, whether it’s alt.rock, guitar-pop, or even emo is immaterial. Labels be damned - just call it great music.

An essential Mogwai purchase. [26 Feb 2005, p.66]

It is raw, emotionally stirring, and the best album you’ll hear this year, by a mile.

Growing up is hard but Bully make it sound exhilarating.

Together, EL VY create an enthralling musical space where Matt Berninger can explore the idea of being Matt Berninger.

Get marooned with them, while you still can.

‘Sketchy’ takes the best, feral pulses from tUnE-yArDs’ DIY material and the richest sounds of later records in its doubling down on societal crises. If Garbus was worried about finding inspiration, she needn’t have been.

'Idealism' is dusted with the kind of metallic house glitter caking LCD's 'Sound Of Silver', and, just as promisingly, the title track could have been carved from Daft Punk before they decided they were human after all.

Mastodon have written the most personal album of their career, and in doing so perhaps their most pertinent too.

Fantastic songs that are easy to embrace and return to.

They get the sentiment of a thousand anguished FT editorials across in a mere 30 minutes.

Whereas Mogwai’s more recent work threatens to make a formula familiar, Fuck Buttons’ fizzling DIY laboratory still has the invention and ingenuity to surprise.

This is the sound of progress.

Psychological trauma aside, there’s a warmth to Weiss’ soft, sighing vocals and Daniel Falvey’s rippling guitar textures that lifts Loom to the heavens.

The album was written immediately after Brendon’s recent stint in the Broadway musical ‘Kinky Boots’, and while it’s fair to say he’s always had a flair for theatrics, the experience has injected these tracks with unprecedented levels of sass and drama. Urie is clearly still relishing the role of the sonic bachelor, and it shows. On Pray, it sounds like he’s having a total blast.

'Holes In The Wall' is one of the most impressive debut albums of 2002. Fact.

The overall impression is of gloomy landscape paintings with a spooky, residual feeling that God might be hiding behind every cloud or passing tumbleweed - electrifying.

Essentially more surgical sonic detritus, it is Autechre nuanced, minutely reprocessed and at the top of their game.

A perfect slice of bedroom psychedelia. [9 Apr 2005, p.58]

After the huge success of his second critically-acclaimed album like ‘Pieces Of A Man’, this small EP steps into the big boots it needs to fill before Mick Jenkins’ next outing. ... Delightfully dainty.

Despite being told over the course of just three tracks, the story of growth and revitalisation that underpins ‘SABLE’ hardly feels rushed.