Tracks such as Florida and Pull The Curtains... add a Pixies-ish aggression to their signature bleepy country rock. [Nov 2005, p.124]

There aren't any bad songs here, there just aren't enough brilliant ones either. [Sep 2017, p.116]

Lex Hives fizzes with the energy of a debut album, the quintet emphatically back to doing what they do best. [Jul 2012, p.103]

Embracism is like a night in a dingy club with someone you've just met reeling through emotions with each additional drink. [Sep 2013, p.99]

Another marathon slog through the alt-country undergrowth. [Jun 2005, p.118]

While the limitations of their two-man line-up means that the music never takes flight in quite the same way, the austere likes of 'Fly Low Carrion Crow' still leaves an indelible mark. [Oct 2007, p.106]

It's a long, hard haul, but this is an outstanding talent at the top of her game. [Mar 2007, p.116]

This is a record so drenched in Vietnam War-era blues rock you can all but smell the patchouli and napalm, and though 'Why Must You Always Dress In Black' may be his most shameless Hendrix-rip-off to date, it is nevertheless a convincing one. [Jun 2009, p.124]

It's an addictive dream-pop blueprint, yet it's only when the percussion powers down, as on closer "The Wait," that the band hit the ethereal heights they're shooting for. [Aug 2010, p.125]

It sounds a bit like a female Elliott Smith and certainly more than the sum of its genes. [Aug 2006, p.112]

Despite some evidence of talent, though, it's mostly just musical gatecrashing. [Apr 2005, p.123]

A bigger budget and they'll get really interesting. [May 2008, p.135]

Which Bitch? is a blaze of glory. [Mar 2009, p.103]

Super absorbing. [May 2012, p.99]

Things often get a bit messy, the meandering 12-minute title track with its extended percussion battle being the most jarring example. [Jun 2012, p.104]

Tom Burke's voice is perfect for the role of geek Lothario with a dozen clever ways to get the girl, and yet just as convincing when , on the sad-sack swoon of I Wouldn't Want To, heartbreak wipes off the smirk. [Jul 2012, p.97]

Surrounding themselves with wise old heads clearly helps, but The Days Run Away shows Frankie & Co have plenty ideas of their own. [Jul 2013, p.103]

An assured first step. [Aug 2015, p.114]

The yelpy, sub-Beasties rapping from Clams Baker renders Whale city all but unlistenable. A shame, because the backing tracks' raucous Fall-isms consititute a long-anticipated high-energy flipside to the smacky languor of Adamczewski's main band. [Jul 2018, p.118]

Marigold and Paradise Drive show they aren't short of thrills, but Levitation's title track, which despite its seven minutes and two parts, never achieves the promised lift-off, and encapsulates Flamingods's shortcomings. [Jul 2019, p.110]

Recalling Kate Bush and the enigmatic chamber music of Penguin Cafe and North Sea Radio Orchestras, the way is full of mystic visions, and the deathly conclusion is bittersweet. [Nov. 2011, p. 127]

It offers some crunchy, very manly rocking, with riffs, choruses, everything. [May 2010, p.126]

A little less austerity, however, might have made it easier to warm to the experience as a whole. [Mar 2013, p.94]

Those ideas aren't all great, but the strike rate is remarkably high. [Jul 2016, p.114]

The real relevation, though, is guest rapper Sway, who ditches his cheeky pop persona in favour of a prowling delivery perfectly suited to the title track's rolling bass and Eastern-tinged 'Jewels And Gems.' [May 2009, p.113]

It pushes many of the same buttons as DFA/LCD Soundsystem, but with a sensuous Gallic cool missing from the more angular Anglo-Americans. [Jul 2005, p.112]

The length and sheer number of guest stars mean it;'s somewhat rambling, but when you're talking P-funk, what's new? [May 2011, p.112]

The first section bristles with churning intensity, but offers little in the way of surprises. The soundtrack, however, an unnerving sound collage, is far better. [Aug 2017, p.109]