She sounded better as a bit of a bad girl. [Jun 2014, p.106]

eXquire has charisma to burn and the beats are engagingly woozy. But the contrast between eight-minute epic Nothing's What It Seems: Short Film and the sex raps of FCK Boy! and I Love Hoes show that some things never change. [Sep 2019, p.115]

Crazy as ever, then, but still just about in an endearing way. [Sep 2016, p.108]

There are too many songs here set to the same humdrum pace. But those are the sort of flaws you expect from a debut. [May 2013, p.112]

Opting to name your album Magnifique certainly suggests a renewed confidence and the music here largely supports that. [Sep 2015, p.115]

Krell's exploration into inner space working best when opening the door wide enough to let a little light in. [Dec 2018, p.108]

While these midlife blues are never less than absorbing, fans will hope he sees in his half century by upping the ante somewhat. [Nov 2013, p.105]

Sparky debut from trio in thrall to US post-hardcore. [July 2010, p. 135]

They carefully remodel Gentry's Southern storytelling. [Mar 2019, p.116]

Baird's pure vocals might promise a bucolic dream, but there's the seed of a nightmare mushrooming here, a tension Heron Oblivion push as far out as they can. [Apr 2016, p.107]

Their debut, recorded in frontman's Ed Macfarlane's parents' garage, is a tuneful affair. [Oct 2008, p.142]

Confident Music for Confident People largely succeeds in maintaining the hi-NRG entertainment. ... It comes unstuck, though, when the sugary fun becomes simply irritating, as on the bratty C.O.O.L Party. [Jun 2018, p.109]

Fizzing with ideas, their future looks bright. [May 2012, p.93]

Interplay sees him continuing the retro-futurist experiment. [Apr 2011, p.102]

He seems content to occupy the same '90s underground niche he's always done. [Jun 2013, p.90]

Nothing here is revolutionary, although the quality of workmanship is undeniable. [July 2002, p.112]

The melodramatic clatter of Corridors and Meridian's airborne melodic spores mark then out as rare species, but their underlying pomposity remains an albatross around their necks. [Mar 2010, p.108]

There are some fine moments, chief among them the searing Ordinary World and the delicate ballad Lost, but there's a feeling The Temper Trap will never again match the bombastic euphoria of their breakthrough track. [Aug 2016, p.117]

[Wiesenfeld has an] uncommon ear for texture and rhythm, albeit one compromised by a weakness for self-consciously introspective lyrics and highfalutin sixth form poetry. [Jun 2013, p.93]

A true one-off, you're either a believer or you're not. [Jun 2014, p.106]

A breezy, rangy collection of songs that give the impression of a man keen to make a move without over-analysing too much. [Aug 2013, p.102]

The austerity of the songs occasionally makes the listener feel as though they have stumbled upon some hand-scrawled diary entries. [Aug 2013, p.102]

It's a frustratingly inconsistent affair. [Aug 2013, p.97]

Even when the music threatens to sag into MOR dullness, as on Slow Burn Love, Almond's unmistakable voice - equal measures of defiance and fragility - lifts it up high.[Mar 2020, p.114]

A dramatic, wide-screen, expertly executed, even genuinely executed thrilling rock record worthy of an audience way beyond nu-prog’s regular constituency. [Apr 2007]

[The band's] hardcore sound is as tricky to keep up with as ever. [Mar 2013, p.101]

Rebel Heart often strikes a more tentative note.[Apr 2015, p.100]

Much of the incidental music fulfils its purpose by occupying the background, but the band manage to inject real drama into the majestically discordant, Sonic Youth-influenced 'Spearing The Sunfish,' while the peaks and troughs of 'Boy Vertiginous' should appeal to Mogwai fans. [Jul 2009, p.117]