It's the amped-up riff in the middle of Offspring Are Blank that best sums up their playful approach. They often flex their muscles without feeling the need to land a killer blow. [Aug 2012, p.97]

They offset their cosmic silliness with molten rock surges and spacey interludes. [Dec 2012, p.99]

They're intriguingly ambivalent, but the conundrums are so beautifully and hauntingly put, you'll want to revisit them. [Jul 2009, p.125]

It's all wilfully haphazard, though the fact that they never sound like they're taking things too seriously happily dispels the whiff of pretension. [Sep 2006, p.110]

This could be the most finely realised piece of work by a teenager since Arctic Monkeys released Whatever People Say I Am... in 2006. [Dec 2012, p.104]

This is actually a deeply groovy album, beautifully produced and full of sparkling detail. [Sep 2013, p.108]

She's gone big and bold. [Aug 2017, p.107]

A66 is made thrilling by the gear change midway through, ditching its Sabbath crawl for a brutal climax. Nothing else quite succeeds in cutting through the downtuned murk, although riffs are uniformly monolithic and frontman Matt Baty's throaty bark is never less than entertaining. [Nov 2018, p.112]

It's the sound of grand ambition realised. [Jun 2020, p.98]

Anyone expecting an album of unchallenging fodder is in for a shock. Like the voyage faced by its desperate, stateless subjects, I Tell A Fly is no easy ride. [Oct 2017, p.101]

This follow-up goes the whole hog. ... Frank Ocean's Blonde reportedly influenced the tech-driven songwriting process, but there are echoes, too, of U2 at their more exploratory, and, on the twisty-riffed In Waves, last year's QOTSA album. Olympian. [Jun 2018, p.110]

Gloomy and wonderful. [Apr 2013, p.105]

Perfect rainy day music. [Nov 2006, p.147]

Much of the material here would fit seamlessly on any of their records since 1996's No Code. ... Gigaton is a reminder that Pearl Jam are a band totally comfortable in their own skin. [Jun 2020, p.104]

It's honest, uncomfortable and bonkers, but therein lies its charms. [Apr 2016, p.115]

Face Stabber finds him in cosmic wigout mode, double majoring in late-'60s psychedelia and early-'70s Krautrock. [Sep 2019, p.115]

The whole thing is raw, exhilarating and completely compromised. [Aug 2013, p.102]

A heroic performance. [Nov 2006, p.147]

A draining, rewarding journey. [Aug 2008, p.143]

Their third album pulsates in glorious obliviousness to all interim "developments" in rock. [Feb 2016, p.115]

Up there with her best. [Dec 2005, p.144]

God only knows how they stay this angry, or this compelling. [Sep 2015, p.110]

There's a mesmeric quality to the layering of divergent sonic textures. [Mar 2009, p.98]

Fever Dream's AOR and folk stylings see Watt picking over the bones of his life, ruminating on such themes of love, loss and family in a wry, wise and unsentimental manner. [Jun 2016, p.117]

Melodic, understated, yet with much natural warmth too, Ritter's time has surely come. [Apr 2006, p.119]

Loaded with delights... that highlight their soft, uniquely beautiful sound. [Sep 2004, p.135]

Antics is ridiculously good. [Oct 2004, p.112]

Quite an achievement. [Apr 2017, p.116]

Quietly intoxicating, it's equal parts brain and beauty. [Jul 2018, p.111]

It's potent stuff. Visceral is an understatement. [Jun 2020, p.103]

A modish conflation of acoustic guitars, violins, subtle electronics and artfully detached vocals, located somewhere near Amnesiac-era Radiohead. [Feb 2005, p.104]

With its shoebox percussion and no-budget production, Sleeper is a work of desolate, cracked genius. [Sep 2013, p.108]

Seventy minutes of mind-bending, head-spinning hip hop is a lot to take in one sitting, but this is nevertheless hugely inventive stuff if taken in smaller doses. [Jun 2005, p.116]

Built To Spill sound as if they're trying too hard, and ultimately both The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev do this sort of thing with far more panache.

The Grocery [is] riveting. If Manchester Orchestra are guilty of being a tad too serene elsewhere, it must also be noted that sounding beautiful is a good problem to have. [Sep 2017, p.113]

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are indeed funny, but over the course of an album they're musical enough to withstand repeated plays. [June 2008, p.138]

Vague prog touches and thrash influences soon emerge, offering breadth and depth. [Dec 2012, p.109]

[The] debut is a blast from start to finish. [Aug 2015, p.104]

Utterly distinctive, this excellent, effortlessly surprising record is the perfect cleanser for even the most jaded musical palette. [Jan 2016, p.106]

The songs here are real beauties. [Jan 2018, p.110]

Brilliant debut, splicing rock, modern pop and EDM. [Aug 2019, p.116]

Simons and Rowlands are making music that has the dizzying plasticity of their best work. [Jun 2019, p.113]

This is the sound of a man doing exactly what he wants, rather than what everyone expects and it's totally compelling. [Nov 2019, p.115]

Occassionally the set suffers from too much studio polish and not enough grit. [Jan 2009, p.116]

He'll always be too mannered for mainstream acceptance, but there's unarguable brilliance here. [Nov 2010, p.105]

The melodic charms are epic, the lyrical insights about romantic disappointment universal. [Feb 2015, p.114]

A dazzling listen. [Mar 2012, p. 105]

Amid the shiny licks, the hallmarks of his previous work remain. [Dec 2015, p.111]

Only the very dedicated need apply. [Jun 2009, p.119]

Quite unlike any other record you'll hear this year. [Nov 2013, p.116]

Tongue-in-cheek though this often is, the self-indulgence is never at the expense of the music. [Jul 2014, p.114]

Precisely assembled, melodic songs that shiver with emotion. [Sep 2006, p.107]

A textbook case of college rock, performed very well. [Oct 2004, p.129]

Akin to Manu Chao backed by The Go Team!, fortunately it's no one-off. [Nov 2008, p.117]

Gurnsey has pushed his ghost disco to its exhilarating limits. [Aug 2018, p.109]

The whole set is sumptuously produced and is the trio's most fully realised sonic adventure yet. [Summer 2020, p.98]

This is magnificent. [Apr 2016, p.105]

A rugged, roaring listen. [Oct 2011, p.117]

Eloquent, revelatory and moving. [Jul 2017, p.111]

Endless Boogie isolate the kind of grinding blues rock riffs you'd hear on AC/DC, Canned Heat or early Beefheart records and cane them relentlessly. [Apr 2013, p.100]

The spark that made initial albums such as Bug so special is still missing. [May 2007, p.123]

The whole thing is a bit of a grower and a tentative flex in a new direction with just about enough of their old sound to keep fans happy. [Mar 2017, p.111]

Trying to find a sense of humour amidst the walloping woe is exhausting. [Aug 2009, p.107]

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

He's never been quite so on top of his game or quite so blessed with melodic magic. [Mar 2009, p.100]

The results are enticingly hypnotic and reassuringly unhinged in places. [Jun 2006, p.117]

What makes it even more interesting is that the themes and execution are unashamedly grown-up throughout. [Oct 2014, p.116]

Once you've let it grow on you, Sea Change is largely so lovely that you'll forgive him. [Oct 2002, p.98]

Drummer Jim White and guitarist Mick Turner lend understated support throughout, but it's Ellis's eloquent bow that captivates. [Mar 2003, p.103]

[Makes] two known quantities thrillingly new. [May 2004, p.101]

There's a real craftman at work here. [Nov 2015, p.111]

Despite moments of brilliance, at 15 songs long the self-obsession sometimes grates. [May 2012, p.108]

An expertly fashioned LP from a duo who know how to add style to substance. [May 2019, p.115]

They have turned in their most conventional set of songs yet. [Sep 2007. p.95]

After nearly 20 years, their sonic spell shows no sign of fading. [Aug 2016, p.111]

This isn't just a new Faith No More record. It's one of their very best. [Jun 2015, p.113]

Bands aren't suppose to peak on their sixth album, but Okkervil Rover are more tortoise than hare and they've been building towards I Am Very Far since they convened back in 1998. [Jun 2011, p.118]

After years of playing to fanbase expectations, Gray has reinvented not only himself but raised the bar for folktronica. [May 2019, p.112]

Stepping outside of their natural environment ensured their longevity in the '90s, stepping back in seems to have given them a fresh boost. For all Zooropa and Pop's pushing of the envelope, limiting themselves to rock's core ingredients has given the band a new challenge. Certainly, not since The Joshua Tree have U2 sounded so like U2 but, with songs of this startling calibre, right now being U2 is no bad thing.

Was [Nothing's Real] worth the wait? At points, yes. [Aug 2016, p.117]

Here Greenspan takes a more direct approach, showcasing his feel for melody and melancholy to brilliant effect. [Oct 2006, p.125]

A thing of meditative beauty. [Nov 2019, p.115]

It was produced by Blink-182's Mark Hoppus, a fact evident within five seconds of opener, "Worker Bee." [May 2010, p.126]

Biophilia is a wonderful record in the most literal sense; it overflows with wonder. [Oct 2011, p.111]

A cut high above your usual tankard-on-the-belt stuff. [Jul 2014, p.103]

It's hard to imagine Jurvanen can outpace his boss, but he's doing just fine. [Oct 2014, p.103]

A black-metal-inspired collection of songs equally beautiful, if largely less accessible to the casual listener. [Jul 2015, p.112]

For better or worse, this is exactly how you'd expect the third Leftfield album to sound. [Jul 2015, p.107]

You & I is the most single-minded record you'll hear all year. [Aug 2016, p.107]

In short: superb. [Dec 2016, p.106]

At its worst (Jealousy Is A Powerful Emotion), he's overwrought and stodgy. More often, though, Draper is an unceasingly self-lacerating lyricist unafraid to deal with his past. [Oct 2017, p.103]

That song [Found What I've Benn Looking For], turbo-charged, grandstanding and whipped into shape by Grennan's gravel voice encapsulates his committed, lavishly layered approach. [Aug 2018, p.111]

What it lacks in earworms--with even the catchiest refrains served with a side of introspection--it makes up for it in its intoxicating portrait of desire. [Dec 2018, p.107]

While taken individually each song has its merits, as a whole, Spook The Herd is disappointing musically, with nothing rising out of the politely artful haze to truly engage. [Apr 2020, p.111]

Fake is rearranging his sound rather than reinventing it. [Jul 2020, p.109]

The end result is a heavyweight tour de force, and Polly Harvey's most fully-realised album to date. [May 2016, p.102]

Lurking beneath are the electronic pulses of post-rock and the occasional ripple of slip-slide jazz, ensuring that while Runner is approachable, it's always one step ahead. [Nov 2012, p.104]

There isn't a song here that isn't a low-key delight. [Jun 2016, p.111]