Seratones' opening salvo might be impressive but you can't help feeling their timing couldn't be worse. [Aug 2016, p.117]

There's more than enough for a killer accompaniment to his book, but as a standalone album, Let love needs a tougher edit. [Oct 2019, p.106]

The musical equivalent of a new model car: predictable, solid, well crafted but a lot like the one before it. [Nov 2012, p.99]

While there's nothing on Drastic Fantastic to spook the horses, neither is it an obvious rerun of its predecessor. [October 2007, p.90]

No flame then, but her light shows no sign of going out. [Jan 2013, p.112]

With singer Jim Adkin's genuinely inspiring vocals and thoughtful lyrics separating them from the herd, there's much more life here than might have been expected. [Nov. 2010, p. 111]

Papa Roach may be a band out of time, but there's life aplenty here yet. [Feb 2015, p.113]

It may do little to make non-believers go his way, but Get Up! sizzles with intent from the off. [Mar 2013, p.102]

They adopt a slightly wider palette of influences on the follow-up, with mixed results. [Mar 2014, p.116]

It's wilfully rough around the edges. [Summer 2020, p.101]

[Neil Arthur] is still in strong voice, his spare, pop-savvy synths tracks are a fitting canvas for his absurdist, trenchant narratives. [Apr 2015, p.97]

Sad, happy, tragic and triumphant, just like country music should be. [May 2013, p.102]

A limited vocalist,... he's a far better pianist and arranger. [May 2003, p.104]

Shows that they can still craft radio-friendly rock with aplomb. [May 2012, p.93]

Yet tracks such as Moody, You're No Good and UFO are far more than mere sample food, and these original recordings recall The Slits given a rudimentary disco makeover. But where their British peers revelled in sloppiness, ESG's rhythm section is as tight as the JBs in bondage gear.

It's the very real emotional core that save Straight No Chaser from being just a slickly anonymous pop confection. [Nov 2009, p.100]

This is exciting but competent American punk by numbers. [Nov 2003, p.114]

Only the closing tracks, where they grow overwhelmed by their own inertia, stands between this and something essential. [Aug 2016, p.115]

The smart-arse-ometer goes off the scale from time to time and a thin production hardly helps matters, but when Deez gets snappy on Kill Your Attitude and Melange Mining Co, he's far from a lost cause. [Oct 2015, p.104]

If there's a weakness it's Hutchcraft's florid vocal style. [Nov 2015, p.111]

The dense guitars and plaid shirts scream "grunge redux," but the attitude is pure hair metal circa 1987. [Aug 2010, p.116]

Amid too much mid-tempo drear it's left to Rockabye Baby to bring some fire to a n LP that rarely does more than enough. [Jun 2017, p.102]

The best songs have some serious bite. [Apr 2015, p.108]

An album filled with skill, invention and genrey-defying fun. [Apr 2015, p.104]

Silvery two-part harmonies, cello and snare rolls combine to excellent effect on Light Out, while Drummachines lopes along, a fuzzy bass loop and booming drum kicks offset with mildly Auto-Tuned vocals. [May 2013, p.103]

While it's genuinely marvellous to hear one of pop's most underrated voices back, you do long to hear material suited to the modern era. [Jun 2013, p.94]

A robust blend of anthemic choruses and electro-tinged riffing, it will appeal to fans of Depeche Mode and Metallica alike. [July 2002, p.112]

A far more considered affair, wistful, even half-regretful, yet redolent of breezing down the freeway from the Deep South to California with the Stones and Flying Burrito Brothers on the radio. [Aug 2016, p.114]