At its worst, it's tired and turgid, but neither is it hopeless or without hope. [Dec 2016, p.109]

The Trump nightmare goes on, but these otherworldly lo-fi lullabies provide the perfect tonic. [Nov 2018, p.111]

It's focused, punchy and beautifully poetic. [Dec. 2011 p. 129]

Anyone bored by the kitchen sink will find much to love here. [Feb 2008, p.97]

What raises Big Station above the ordinary is the ease with which Escovedo explores his place in the world, whether through love's hard fought redemption or life's barrel-scraping moments. [Aug 2012, p.97]

This is their most rewarding yet, built to enjoy in one 38-minute session, languid, melancholy tunes growing out of barely audible static pulses, incoherently Vocodered whispers or preposterously exciting cymbal splashes, carried on by soft pianos, vulgarity-free brass and strings into Bitch Magnet-meets-Samuel Barber electric cataclysms.

Rarely do teenage kicks result in such eloquent, nuanced records as this. [May 2011, p.118]

One of the year's most inventive debuts. [Jul 2004, p.114]

Untamed Beast proves the band to be much more than just the rock'n'roll Alabama Shakes. [Jun 2013, p.95]

From start to finish, it's moving and beautiful stuff. [Jun 2015, p.105]

Recalls the riffola of Bleach-era Nirvana, complete with sludgy Led Zeppelin-esque guitars. [May 2005, p.110]

Faith In The Future continues this rich work [of short story narrative in song], but with a new feel of quiet sobriety. [Oct 2015, p.107]

Here Mascis's guitar playing remains as distorted--and dextrous--as ever, but here his songcraft burns as brightly as his fretwork. [Jul 2009, p.121]

Some of the greatest countrified orchestral pop this side of the randy old goats' [Gainsbourg and Hazlewood] heydays. [Feb 2012, p.108]

It retains the same soft, celestial charm that has lit up the songwriter's earlier releases, merging classical strings, gentle guitars and subtle electronics. [April 2012, p.90]

It's a job well done.... But a few tracks sound too much like functional mix fodder. [Nov 2012, p.91]

[The songs are] played with enough ear-catching acuity to satiate your inner psych-pop gourmand. [Jan 2014, p.126]

The warm production, matched to their adoption of modern techno aesthetics, has upped the intensity of the sonic kink. [Apr 2015, p.98]

Pleasing though it is, [it] doesn't run too deep. [Sep 2015, p.112]

Ora shines brightest on the album's calmer moments. [Jan 2019, p.113]

There's still an absence of real emotional heft, but it's hard not to be won over by Blossoms' relentless, effervescent cheeriness.

Proof positive that you can post-rock and still have a smile on your face. [May 2007, p.124]

He sing-raps stream-of-consciousness tales that, coupled with instrumentation from his brother Josiah and Doug McDiarmid, create contagious songs. [May 2008, p.141]

This record is like a pale version of their biggest fan in its shoe-shuffling awkwardness, and though each track sounds far too timid for single release, that is perhaps Upper Air's defining charm. [Aug 2009, p.103]

Produced by the ever-tasteful T-Bone Burnett, Ray Charles wouldn't have been disgraced by the earthy mix of soulful blues and gospel. [Mar 2011, p.105]

Daltrey climbs inside every song, slaps it around a bit and makes it his own. [Jul 2018, p.111]

Tracey Thorn dispatches these carefully chosen covers and four new tracks with realism and a lightness of touch. [Nov 2012, p.106]

Gossamer's a pleasant listen, but since when has that been enough? [Aug 2012, p.108]