William's slick pop-R&B effectively smothers Snoop's signature drawl. [Jul 2015, p.113]

It's the renewed sense of urgency and bubblegum appeal--see Live 'Til I Die--which ensures that Prof Hawkins's musical multiverse is still a thrilling place. [Dec 2019, p.109]

Fizzing with memorable melodies, irrepressible energy and Matthew Caw's heartfelt vocals, this 38-minute set doesn't have a wasted moment on it. [Feb. 2012, p.108]

He remains a maestro at the mixing desk, even as the album's split-down-the-middle concept undermines his genre-splicing strengths. [Jan 2020, p.106]

There are less stirring points--England, for instance, never really seems to move, and album closer Please Let Me Let It Go is a little too somnambulant. [Nov 2014, p.104]

Infinite Arms benefits from a mixture of expansive pondering--Factory, for example, coul easily become a staple of emotive TV dramas--and such lonely romance as Way Back Home, which twinkles like fireflies. [Jun 2010, p.129]

Motion To Join makes the druggiest meanderings of the similar "Spiritulized" sound full of pep. [Dec 2008, p. 126]

He's seldom less than wildly expressive, whether pumping out neon-lit disco or radically rewiring acid electro. [Aug 2012, p.108]

Carefully constructed with plenty of inventive, multi-layered vocals, it works best on the livelier songs. [Apr 2013, p.93]

A characteristically warm and good-natured record, but it's also striking how adventurous and relevant they sound. [Apr 2016, p.108]

Omori hits the sweet spots--butterfly-inducing money notes, wistful minor-key switch-ups--but rarely excites more than cordial admiration. [Sep 2018, p.117]

The 17 loose, grungy guitar-led songs here ... sound full of renewed energy. [May 2012, p.103]

If there's one complaint, its that pop commercialism occasionally gets the better of her. [Aug 2010, p.123]0

Night In the Dark is retrograde, but it's a refinement too. [Apr 2015, p.97]

The middle section boast a tougher, truculent edge reminiscent of last year's mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late. But it's during the final sequence that everything clicks. [#361, p.114]

Sounds a lot like a world-weary J Mascis fronting Teenage Fanclub. [Mar 2003, p.108]

A fresh production eye might have rescued its weaker segments - Love Calling Earth or the dull By All Means Necessary - and its surprising lack of overall oomph.

It'd be easy to throw the "emo" tag at them, but Matt Pryor's approach has more in common with the disarming honesty of Weezer's Rivers Cuomo than mere whinging. [Nov 2002, p.100]

Their debut album sits comfortably between the party-heart, old skool shape-throwing of Jurassic Five and the darker weedscapes of Cypress Hill.

Their former group's artful exuberance and awkward edges may have been sawn off to create a more grungy rasp, but there's still plenty of angst on show. [Oct 2002, p.117]

Life after Defo occasionally feels like flicking through someone's heartbreak diaries. [Apr 2013, p.99]

Instrumental, but wholly lyrical. [Apr 2017, p.116]

It starts promisingly ... but 43 minutes of joyless hectoring becomes an endurance test. [Feb 2012, 110]

so far, so arty. [Mar 2014, p.108]

Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Buxton have retrenched, recruited a slew of vocalists and made the sort of uptempo record they were doing at the turn of the century. [Oct 2009, p.107]

Choruses fizzle, lyrics fail to engage and every song is at least a minute too long. [Jun 2013, p.102]

Mostly Strapped is unified by a fuggy atmosphere, likeably odd guitar details and some immediate choruses. [Nov 2012, p.105]

They remain most compelling when Hanna lets rip, as on the propulsive, grinding 'Me & Mary.' [Mar 2009, p.93]