A dozen familiar tracks, minus their overdubs. [Oct 2013, p.116]

Without breaking any new ground, Glowing Mouth shows there's a bit more of them than that [sounding like Coldplay's Chris Martin]. [Mar 2012, p.112]

At times, all this loose-limbed craziness can become tiresome but like an excitable friend dragging you onto the dancefloor by the sleeve, they make it very a=hard not to join their party. [Apr 2013, p.97]

It's the orchestral pop of Red Rover, Red Rover and the others that sweep the album along. [Apr 2013, p.113]

Ridin', Porn Star and Slammin' are as disposably trashy as their titles suggest, and even the trowelled-on angst of Slit My Wrists and Whiskey In The Morning sounds like a pool party at a Beverley Hills bordello.

The debut is a mix of styles classic and unorthodox, mythic American themes and sounds overlapping with futuristic textures. [Jan 2010, p.119]

On Desire shows Drowners deepening and darkening the intrigue around them. [Aug 2016, p.111]

There are moments where the glory years are emulated.... Even so, after 17 long years, both band and audience deserve better than a wandful of magic and some rehashes. [Oct 2003, p.102]

[Johnny Lynch's] third album proper features confident, spangly pop music with beats as sneaky vehicles for stories of murder, primal blood rites and near-death experiences. [Nov 2016, p.113]

Shunning those bawdy, mike-tossing rock'n'roll tendencies of yore and aiming at the modish pop/R&B middle ground inhabited by the likes of R. Kelly, he's made what is easily his most cheering, soulful collection in years.

Into The Diamond Sun takes a fistful of seemingly incongruous influences and hammers them into something akin to pop music. [Oct 2012, p.111]

Engagingly eccentric. [Dec 2016, p.110]

His music could still use an injection of personality. [Oct 2018, p.119]

He likes to temper the euphoria with a much darker undertow. [Mar 2012, p.112]

Their ability to transport the listener to an imaginary Deep South truckers' bar in 1973 is peerless, while the deft funk-rock of 'Set In Stone' and 'Play the Fool' pay tribute to the slick musicianship and seemless meld of rootsy American music styles that The Doobie Brothers and Little Feat unleashed in their prime. [Nov 2008, p.110]

The tempo seldom rises beyond a twitch, or Buttery's voice above a murmur, News From Nowhere is warm and confident. [Apr 2013, p.99]

Another quirky, engaging curio.[April 2012, p.98]

At 21 minutes at least it doesn't outstay its welcome. [Apr 2011, p.102]

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

Not here the gliding elegance of Drive, but an almost self-conscious rewrite of that brilliant debut's mechanical pop rock. [July 2011, p. 106]

It's the vocals of Jana Hunter, an apprentice of freak folk luminary Devendra Banhart, that provides Nootropics' bewitching focal point, the group's gothic meld of gliding guitars and spectral synth noises resembling the Cocteau Twins on a comedown. [Jun 2012, p.107]

Really, though, he's at his best when he tones down the act. [Nov 2019, p.108]

This unabashedly jolly outing manages to be both simultaneously charming and irritating. [Feb 2003, p.106]

It's good in places, sporadically very good, but is no significant step up from their debut. [Oct 2012, p.113]

Second time around their disco shtick remains paramount but they've added traditional songwriting craft. [Dec 2015, p.106]

Ultimately, A New Testament is for converts only. [Nov 2014, p.115]

There is promising variation in places. [Nov 2012, p.111]

There's no doubt they're here to carouse, but beware the hangover. [Jan 2017, p.104]