Its humongous piledriving choruses, variously recalling Placebo, Wheatus and even Rush, are match by its gloriously knowing wit. [Jul 2017, p.112]

There's too little oomph to suggest they'll bother the scorers. [Jul 2017, p.114]

This is top-notch stuff that draws comparisons with Neil Young and Father John Misty. [Jul 2017, p.114]

There's a crystal-clear production and a return to his most precious musical touchstones. [Jul 2017, p.115]

This unashamedly adult collection drags Feist deeper still into major talent territory. [Jul 2017, p.107]

It all peaks on Raw Language, distorted saxophone and choral voices speaking together with thrilling intensity. [Jul 2017, p.107]

These are languidly addictive songs that barely seem there on first listen but soon emerge from the mist to take up residence in your life. [Jul 2017, p.107]

A radiant blast of cosmic rock and intergalactic electro-pop that sounds as next-level as the voice of the spaceship, the brain i n the jar, a full-force astral projection. [Jul 2017, p.105]

A glorious reinterpretation of some of his [Merle Haggard's] finest songs. [Jul 2017, p.104]

Other artists might have engaged in some sort of artistic progression by now, but this is what Black Lips do. They bend to no one's will but their own. [Jul 2017, p.104]

He'll never be an easy listen, but for now Actress has found a happier role. [Jul 2017, p.104]

Damn. is an almost flawless hip-hop masterclass that crunches Kendrick's consuming concerns--life and death, pride and guilt, fate and freewill--into the tightest, most explosive package yet. [Jul 2017, p.102]

While it doesn't always hit its mark, people after some cartoon-rock fun with great tunes will find this their most consistently satisfying set of songs since 2009's West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. [Jun 2017, p.100]

This matches some of their best work. [Jun 2017, p.103]

Easy Machines is ultimately more engaging, its mangled classic pop recalling Guided By Voices. [Jun 2017, p.105]

At The Drive-In's astringent, scouring return doesn't feel so much like a blast from the past, as one aimed right at the heart of the present. [Jun 2017, p.108]

Nothing here sounds forced. [Jun 2017, p.102]

The results are frequently riveting. ... A challenging listen, then, but that's its appeal. [Jun 2017, p.110]

Gargoyle takes the electronic bedrock of its 2014 predecessor Phantom Radio and kicks it up a notch. [Jun 2017, p.109]

What Humanz lacks in memorable hooks, it makes up for in fist-clenching spirit--and We Got The Power sums that up best. [Jun 2017, p.113]

They excel most on energetic, darkly comic songs. [Jun 2017, p.110]

it's not without charm, but you might find yourself wanting to like What Now more than you actually do. [Jun 2017, p.112]

This is a very welcome return of a singular talent. [Jun 2017, p.112]

At times, they sound like Black Sabbath might, if Tony Iommi had ever misplaced his genius for memorable riffs. Far better is when they harness their power more constructively. and fragments of tunes emerge from the sludge. [Jun 2017, p.112]

The more Khan sets the pace, the more all three fly. [Jun 2017, p.112]

The gloom is unyielding, but so is the lightness of touch and few albums will encapsulate 2017 with such elan. [Jun 2017, p.112]

Some tracks will work better live, but consider the experiment a success. [Jun 2017, p.112]

11 strong songs which ache, break and twang as craftily as they do sincerely. [Jun 2017, p.110]

Tracks such as Celebrate and Push lack the euphoric uplift necessary for dancefloor dominance, while the relationship angst hinted at in strobe Light comes masked behind a dreamy production gauze. When they hit the sweet spot, however, the results are sublime. [Jun 2017, p.110]

The band seem to be pushing their hi-spec power-indie as far as it can go. [Jun 2017, p.110]

Although its lyrics and concerns are more mature than debut album Life As A Dog, it occasionally feels a bit like reading your teenage diary: a cringe or two amid the catharsis. [Jun 2017, p.109]

Hitchcock is a genre of his own, and he's giving it a good name. [Jun 2017, p.109]

The disruptions continue on these post-classical keyboard pieces given extra depth by textured electronics, which create an underlying tension befitting the album's brief to examine possible ecological futures. [Jun 2017, p.109]

These are fine story-songs for any age, era or metal disposition. [Jun 2017, p.107]

They make all the right moves on this brilliant debut. [Jun 2017, p.106]

Happyness's second LP is deceptively well thought-out, deftly constructed around unusual chord changes, and laced with subtly eyebrow raising sonics. ... Making you wonder just how impactful this able trio might be if they properly pulled their finger out. [Jun 2017, p.106]

A daunting 32 tracks and some typically uneven quality control. However, there's a renewed freshness here. [Jun 2017, p.106]

More often, Double Roses settles for a tastefully ornamented Nashville smoulder. [Jun 2017, p.106]

Certainly, there's an absurdity about the great man wrapping his frail tonsils around vocally acrobatic piece like Stormy Weather. Yet, his passion for the task of rescuing these poetic tunes from cultural obscurity is palpable. [Jun 2017, p.106]

Davies's melodic gifts remain bulletproof/ In fact, he hasn't sounded more creatively alive in years. [Jun 2017, p.106]

It's a stimulating and animated listen, his resigned confidences frequently sharpened by dyspeptic wit. [Jun 2017, p.105]

With high-up bassline grooves and synth-psych mayhem oozing from every pore, it's another absolute winner. [Jun 2017, p.105]

It might propel them deeper into the mainstream, but the artistic price doesn't seem worth paying. [Jun 2017, p.105]

An album of hidden depth, then, even if some of them require firm resolve on the listener's part. [Jun 2017, p.105]

The sunny hooks of the title track and Disco Kid's funky backsbeat display similar flair, though indulgent wig-outs such as Don't Blame Yourself could do with an edit. [Jun 2017, p.105]

Lyrics veer from the pessimism of relationship failure to the optimism of new love, underpinned by the worldliness of a woman moving forwards after so many steps backwards. [Jun 2017, p.105]

It's a record that opens the door with its's robe falling to the floor: louche, suggestive clammy in places. [Jun 2017, p.104]

Their debut LP serves as an impressive case for why--a mingling of youthful bombast and strikingly mature ambition, the songs here are anthemic, introspective, delightful. [Jun 2017, p.102]

BNQT is a happy meld of snug-fitting millennial Traveling Wilburys and Gorillaz pop nous, a giant avert for the powerful attraction of opposites. [Jun 2017, p.102]

Amid too much mid-tempo drear it's left to Rockabye Baby to bring some fire to a n LP that rarely does more than enough. [Jun 2017, p.102]

There are echoes of other singular vocal talents such as Jonsi and Anonhi, but Ghersi here occupies a sonic multiverse of his own creation. [Jun 2017, p.102]

Confident in its own weirdness, Love In The 4th Dimension is as enjoyable as the live shows that birthed it. [May 2017, p.100]

While not all the songs manage to really sink their teeth in, the overall smoky, neon-lit atmosphere is an intoxicating one. [May 2017, p.111]

Some may carp at the lyrics, but at 47, Kay retains pole position as pop's most revved-up playboy. [May 2017, p.107]

Familiar BSP influences such as New order, Talk Talk and Bunnymen are present and it's shot through with a Telstar optimism, ensuring that the afterglow is defiantly positive. [May 2017, p.100]

Despite th[e] bleakness, Pure Comedy is delivered with wit and warmth, and redeemed by the tiniest twinkle of light. [May 2017, p.110]

It rearranges songs from the back catalogue into both psychologically probing dream-pop and freer, almost meteorological expressions. [May 2017, p.104]

Even now, few do it better than Wire. [May 2017, p.112]

It struggles to hold attention because even Blunt's poppiest songs start the same way as his ballads: a downbeat vocal about ghosting, love or how Twitter hates him. [May 2017, p.100]

Grown Up is a personal diary magnified to the scale of an IMAX screen. [May 2017, p.103]

To make warm, immediate pop music that sounds so out of the ordinary is a rare feat. [May 2017, p.106]

Show Yourself and Steambreather prove that its possible to perform challenging, complex material without being self-indulgent. [May 2017, p.108]

Silver Eye's strength lies with its strong sense of mood rather than any truly memorable material. [May 2017, p.104]

There is little that feels dull or predictable. [May 2017, p.107]

The switches from retro punk to camp stadium rock are seemless, and Creeper prove themselves worthy heirs to the bombastic rock bands of the past. [May 2017, p.103]

It's his most enjoyable music in two decades. [May 2017, p.112]

Only some odd choices of collaborators--like actor Joe Pesci on The Nearness Of You--mars what could have been a beautiful swansong. [May 2017, p.111]

There's scarcely a moment here that doesn't light a fire. [May 2017, p.100]

There's a luxurious, albeit sometimes cloying, warmth throughout. [May 2017, p.100]

Expect to be lulled into a contented sonic stupor. [May 2017, p.100]

A wealth of imaginative arrangements make for a genuinely unique debut album. [May 2017, p.103]

Finn is sometimes let down by a ploddy production. [May 2017, p.103]

Two good albums, then--but more editing could have produced a single excellent one. [May 2017, p.104]

Two good albums, then--but more editing could have produced a single excellent one. [May 2017, p.104]

Any nuance is stomped by hectic drums and background chants, but it's hard not to warm to people acting on the very human compulsion to make their presence known in case they spin out of reach forever. [May 2017, p.107]

Unfortunately, the old pop standards--including two popularised by Brenda Lee--are all syrup and no spark. [May 2017, p.107]

Solid, but a little more derangement would have been welcome. [May 2017, p.107]

It's an album that's trying very hard--and succeeding. [May 2017, p.108]

As a statement on where the UK's urban scene is headed in 2017, it demands to be heard. [May 2017, p.109]

It's an invitation that's hard to resist. [May 2017, p.113]

Voice-over clips from the movie aside, you'd assume this was a middleweight urban angst flick rather than about a fistic comeback-too-far. No matter, a job well done. [May 2017, p.112]

It's not a record for anyone who likes subtle character development, but it hits the visceral spot. [May 2017, p.112]

Their near-ambient sound abides. [May 2017, p.111]

The more Pulled Apart By Horses yield to their chaotic instincts, the greater they become. [May 2017, p.111]

His approach provides an intriguing adjunct to other boundary-pushing talents from further down the coast such as Vince Staples. [May 2017, p.111]

It works exceedingly well. [May 2017, p.108]

A rip-roaring busman's holiday. [May 2017, p.108]

This is impressive stuff. [May 2017, p.108]

[A] melting-pot maelstrom. [May 2017, p.107]

The Navigator feels like a mighty, empowering antidote to 2017's many spiritual agonies. [May 2017, p.105]

Both in the lyrical themes and in its sound, we are floating in familiar space. [May 2017, p.104]

A listening experience that's frequently compelling, but rarely comforting. [May 2017, p.103]

Listening to this third LP, you wonder if some of the good ones slipped through the cracks. [May 2017, p.102]

Spoon are a band who are impossible to second-guess, and one deserving of much more attention. [May 2017, p.101]

Here their sound is largely sharpened and polished by their unmistakable anger. [May 2017, p.98]

At best, as on Cleopatra, is like a yacht-y take on The Rapture's House Of Jealous Lovers. While amid the blanket New Romantic synth textures, quirky punk-pop ditties such as Girls On Bikes score highest. [Apr 2017, p.118]

Different Creatures is a beast of a record. [Apr 2017, p.117]

Despite its avowed politics, it lacks firm presence or real weight. [Apr 2017, p.112]