This is what angst sounds like when it ages gracefully, and this album is definitely worth a listen.

If you enjoyed their last album, you'll likely be game for Too True. If they lost you after their first album, you won't be won back. Maybe this will be a grower for me, but it's not an immediate year-end contender for me.

John Paul Pitts’ melodic prowess is what keeps me listening, even on a more chill album like Snowdonia. Something about his melodies and vocal timbre just hooks me and won’t let go. I just wish they would pump the volume back up!

The worst songs make you wish they had more to say. Their best ones make you glad that they don't.

Hairball is their most open, breezy album to date.

Overall, there are some flaws but Pity Sex make them work. Soothingly.

It's not as hard-hitting as their past material but still, it's worth a go.

Arcade Fire managed to satisfy divergent interests. Disc one is the hits. Disc two is the weird stuff.

The album could have done with a few tracks less but apart from the tightening up, it's a great move forward, placing you in the shadows or running through said corridor trying to escape an axe-wielding murderer.

As the band seems to be more and more congruent with its own pieces, they are getting weirder and weirder. Perfect.

Blurring the lines between LP and EP, Crush on Me is nine songs in twenty-six minutes, two of which are reprises and one is an outro. You’ll know from the minute she scream-chants “I changed my hair” on opener “Heels” whether or not this is for you.

As a whole, Pissed Jeans have put out the best, harshest, yet most listenable album of their career.

They move a rung up on the shoegaze ladder by toning things back even more than their 2014 record and what's even more noticeable is that quite a few directions taken here, ring similar to bands Yip worked on over the past couple years. Nothing, however, still have an extra something to their music.

The So So Glos have crafted twelve sing-along punk numbers. The Clash influence is crystal clear in both sound and message. Now though, the production value has been raised, opening the gates to attract new fans.

A New Wave of Violence is a perfectly titled blast of energy made by the best there are.

The closing few tracks aren't as strong as I envisioned but overall, Goodness hits the majority of marks it aims for.

Health's dark musical aesthetic feels as fresh as ever. ... Now, that's not to say there aren't a couple misses like "Rat Wars", but all in all, the androgynous energy of Jake Duzsik on the mic is more than enough to shape another pulsating yet nihilistic soundscape that reminds us how Health ages well like fine wine.

It feels like a few tracks could have been cut to make it crisper and tighter but that aside, you definitely want in on this, what appears to be Hause's diary used as a eulogy.

It's not the most stunning release of the year, but it's a great step up for the band, seeing them push themselves as musicians, rather than rehashing their early EPs, which they could have done and been just as successful.

For the first time in their 11 years as a band, the Flatliners seem comfortable. This is their band; this is their sound.

Cursive has made an uneasy record for their fans that may be too on the nose, which is clearly the intention.

Obviously these tracks are nowhere near as essential as the originals, but it’s two great voices singing a handful of timeless tracks, and fans of any of the artists involved would most likely enjoy at least a few tracks from Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith.

Shane Told's lyrics cut deep as usual but his vocals have too many treatments applied to it here and come off over-produced. If you're looking for vintage Silverstein though, "Mirror Box" has you covered. It gets a bit too poppy later on with "Cut and Run" and "The Afterglow" but by that time you know what you got yourself into. A nostalgic trip that should be enjoyed for what it is--a look back at the salad days.

All in all, Marauder to me are the B-sides from Turn On... not perfect, not weak but with some trimming of the fat, songs that could have fit right in on its deluxe edition.

Admittedly, he plays to his strengths here more than in recent memory but again, some songs do just taper off like the reworked "Silent Key". Nonetheless, if you're a Frank fan, you'll enjoy, and if you're a cynic, well you might just find that there's not as much to hate here as you thought there'd be.

Most of their new venture fits this bill and is actually worth the hype.

All in all, the ten tracks are uncompromisingly honest and bittersweet, but another great chapter written.

It's another commendable effort from Weiss waxing on about life and love, and the changes we're all enduring in these dire times. I can tell it would have had more impact for me if some of the fat were trimmed, or if it were split into two EPs, but hey... IIOI not at their best is still quite better than many bands hitting their heights these days, especially in the indie/emo genre.