The constant dynamic shifts between intimate verses and extroverted choruses become a bit repetitive.

It opens with the raucously bluesy 'Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight,' a promising start. But before long, McCartney reverts to pop messiah mode and tries to turn each tune into some grand statement about love, life and/or world peace in the hope that positive vibrations might inspire people of all races to join hands and sing along as one. Really.

It's the strength of his conventional songcraft, however, that makes his late-career foray into the frontman role successful.

While New Wave will probably compel you to pay attention to singer Tom Gabel's rasping rants, it's still a record that's pretty damn fun to dance around to.

There are rhythms and sounds that instantly come off as nostalgic, but in the best moments the beats and textures merge to form something wholly unidentifiable.

The album has its super-twee moments but is never insufferable.

The band makes focused noise with pop undertones, and their new record is undeniably grand.

White’s yelps and screams, reverb, synth and jittery guitar riffs could be more pleasant or cohesive, but that’s not White’s style, especially not on this record. Piling it all on seems to be the point he’s trying to make--this sense of being overwhelmed, constantly, at the hands of technology.

Some songs lack raw emotion but have sombre vocal melodies and engaging lyrics.

It's a holiday album that actually leaves you wanting more.

A sameness runs from track to track--brisk tempos, mid-range key, the loud/soft thing--but if you take time to work out the lyrics, you'll be rewarded with intriguing surrealism, goofy fun (no surprise considering their band name) and, on incendiary pop-punk Psykick Espionage, a welcome dose of badassery.

Luckily, they keep things relatively concise. If this album were any longer, it would be exhausting.

His social commentaries occasionally overwhelm the music, as on Bottled In Cork, a doozy that might elicit an “I get it, I get it, the world is fucked” response. And though he also stumbles on the underdeveloped, raspy, pop diversion One Polaroid A Day, Leo’s still built a sturdy addition to the band’s discography.

Gibson is a very talented young artist testing his limits and only occasionally stumbling.

Less party than their live show (and some of their previous releases), Inner Fire is still damn hot.

Shannon Shaw's heart-in-throat vocals and the Clams' joyous abandon take hold right away and rip breezily but dramatically through 13 lovely new songs.

The lyrics are vivid and occasionally rote in their romanticism, but the formlessness of Endless is deceptive.

It seems like they decided to go whole hog with the Duran Duran template. Not the best strategy, considering it isn't even working for Le Bon and company any more.

Working closely with guitarist and co-producer Joe Pisapia, who co-wrote most of the album, lang has created a mature record that avoids being boring or staid.

This is easily the most danceable record she’s produced. Surprisingly, the weakest tracks are those that sound most like the electro-rap we’ve come to expect from her; fortunately, they’re in the minority this time out.

The songs are simple, but Nap Eyes always inject small surprises into them, like clever guitar melodies or tempo changes.

The squelchy playfulness in Ewen’s arrangements that marked FBH’s most memorable tunes is now cloistered by cynicism and studiousness.

Turns out they’re adept at sad, moody ambience. Wish they tried it a little more often.

Despite the album title, there's an undercurrent of humour in these songs of loneliness, betrayal and death.

The album is plagued by similarly banal lyrics about sex and drugs that make his playboy image feel all the more superficial.... More positively, the poppier musical strategy perfectly suits his boyish vocals, and he sounds more open and less pretentious than ever before.

It's early morning or late-night music, and more than capturing a specific place and aimless time, A New Place 2 Drown is a soundtrack for a slowed-down pace of life.

The album is as solid as its maker's last name but so predictable you could set your Flavor Flav clock to it.

No One Is Lost is the best kind of pop music: the universal made intimate (and vice-versa), one note at a time.