All the things he once did well, he's still doing here. [Oct 2011, p.112]

The airier sound allows room for some soaring melodies, which find their ideal melodies, which find their ideal centrepiece in Michael Vidal's dolorous croon. [Oct 2010, p.103]

Friedmans and Everdell have struck gold. [Oct 2010, p.108]

Imagine a hillbilly White Stripes and you're almost there. [Oct 2014, p.119]

His finest collection of material for 10 years (at least). [Nov 2005, p.118]

It's just artful karaoke. [Jun 2005, p.116]

Classic soul opener Bet Ain't Worth The Hand sounds like the Philly soul of The Delfonics, but it's not long before we're into more up-to-date sonic shapes witht he dislocated beats of Lions. [Jun 2018, p.109]

These succinct, sparse vignettes could double as short stories, Darnielle's evocative imagery giving the likes of 'San Bernardino' a cinematic feel. [Mar 2008, p.108]

No moment of Discovery is left unfilled with an idea, a sonic joke, a spark of brilliance.... a towering, persuasive tour de force which ultimately transcends the dance label.

As a functional piece of music, it's fitness-for-purpose isn't in question,. But as a stand-alone album, the satisfaction it can offer, perhaps, is. [Dec 2014, p.119]

The 11 tracks on Citizen Zombie find these progenitors of the "Bristol sound" in satisfying rude health. [Apr 2015, p.108]

A force of nature is with us. [Mar 2006, p.110]

Their debut album marks a major hike in ambition. [Sep 2011, p.116]

If the squelching synths of 'The Original Thought' irritate, the jauntiness elsewhere suggests he's thriving on a lack of commercial pressure. [May 2009, p.119]

By the half-hour's end you might well consider strangling the singer but, by that time, these tunes will have launched their own potent psychological counterblast. [Apr 2003, p.109]

Far from rehashing her debut, she's made an older and wiser sequel, where the quiet magic of each song gets stronger with every listen. [Mar 2003, p.101]

It makes for a wonderfully warm way of celebrating life. [Aug 2003, p.102]

In a genre considered creatively bankrupt, this is genuinely new metal. [Jul 2003, p.102]

Amid such moments of clarity, however, there's the kind of meandering you originally expected from such an arty bunch. [Nov 2003, p.105]

The only flaw is the former soldier's gravelly drill-sergeant bark. It packs a visceral punch in small doses, but an unadulterated hour of it is like being violently bullied by Busta Rhymes.

Warped and touching, this is an LP for both higher and lower selves. [Oct 2018, p.119]

Challengers, their fourth album, sees the band and its three main songwriters at the top of their game. [Sep 2007, p.99]

It seemed as if they'd perfected the balance of 2002's glowing "Neon Golden," but here manage to continue the evolution. [July 2008, p.108]

[Deluxe's] successor is equally likeable. [Oct 2017, p.108]

There's a curious romance at play throughout their debut album. [Jul 2013, p.112]

Saloon-bar rockers such as Split Decision sound tired and hackneyed alongside a beautifully downbeat cover of Dylan's Standing in the Doorway... the peaceful life suits her. [May 2012, p.105]

Make-Believe is a record you're more likely to respectfully admire than fall hopelessly in love with. [Jun 2012, p.110]

[Mann has] returned to writing songs which are wry, funny, adult and perceptive, all wrapped up in handsome melodies. [Oct 2002, p.112]