While some of it is great, much of Francis Trouble chugs amiably along without really sinking its teeth in. [May 2018, p.111]

Articulate and thoughtful as Kweli's rhymrs are, few of the star producers he's invited along rise to the occasion. [Sep 2007, p.95]

Impressively reconfirms why she's alt-country's brightest rising star. [May 2005, p.111]

Emotional debris permeates almost every song here, but so assured are producer Butch Vig's pop touch and Cooper's harmonies that these pop-punk nuggests sound as sunny as anything on their debut. [Aug 2008, p.143]

Tell Me is produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, an arrangement that suits her lean, unsentimental alt-country just fine. [Mar 2011, p.116]

It obeys no single genre but it sounds like 20 years of London at night. [Mar 2013, p.98]

It's a transformation that makes the delicate beauty of what comes before even more startling. [Mar 2013, p.102]

The further you get into Mythologies, the further off-piste Cheatahs go. [Nov 2015, p.106]

It feels like an exercise in stretching the spirit of the first album as far as it will go, its urgency and menace dissolving into static down a long-distance line. [Mar 2017, p.111]

Growing up is hard to do, but Bruland has clawed some fabulously uneasy songs from the process. [Jan 2018, p.109]

A minor work from a mighty band. [Jan 2019, p.110]

They've mercifully scraped away some of the abrasiveness on their fifth record--even taking the drastic step of recording in a real studio. It's a move that skillfully exposes their inner charms while preserving their lo-fi cool. [Jun 2011, p.123]

His first album in seven years is vigorously diverse. [Nov 2012, p.90]

This Gift rattles along in the finest punk tradition, even usefully recycling The Damned's 'Neat Neat Neat' riff on the title track. [Feb 2008, p.1000]

Relentlessly entertaining--a vessel for the impressive vim and vigour of an artist who is many things, but never a bore. [Mar 2020, p.115]

It blows hot and cold. [Oct 2005, p.110]

It's cute--like a super furry animal, perhaps. [Jan 2006, p.127]

Mission statement from feted San Franciscan droners. [Sept. 2011, p. 119]

His debut solo LP nods more to the latter [Cracker rather than Camper Van Beethoven]. [Jun 2011, p.119]

He's turned his back on electro flourishes in favour of a melodic approach... It works. [Dec. 2001 p. 126]

Holly balances a nostalgic timelessness and modern, urgent emotions. [May 2014, p.120]

59:59 wanders prettily yet aimlessly through the atmospheric post-rock undergrowth. [June 2008, p.149]

Ephyra sees them merge their blissful tendencies with the chutzpah and restless creativity of '80s new wave, mixing in retro-futurist synths, mannered vocals, disco beats and erudite lyricism. [Apr 2019, p.118]

You come to see the The Lovely Eggs are an act of fine calibration of noise and sweetness, of intelligence and brutish mettle. [Jun 2020, p.102]

This mixtape is broad in scope and delirious in flavour. [Jan 2009, p.1222]

This final testament is all the more heart-breaking for the fact we'll never hear from Campbell again. [Oct 2013, p.99]

The lean on their punk metal roots as rawness and straightforward riffing dominate in an album that, despite missing Keenan, does recall their early-'80s heft. [Mar 2012, p.105]