Yet, for all the dumbing down, they have much going for them. [May 2007, p.122]

Rock this clinical just isn't exciting. [Nov 2012, p.103]

[Heaven's Ladder, performed by Beck is] so good, though, that it makes the rest of this complicated exercise seem like a waste of time. [Oct 2014, p.108]

Pleasantly pointless. [Aug 2006, p.116]

Solidly enjoyable though Uno! is, they might have been wiser to mix things up fro the start. [Oct 2012, p.92]

Full marks for originality, then, but it's definitely something you have to be in the mood for. [Mar 2015, p.116]

The Ghost Of The Mountain is the sound of a band trying to settle on a style. [Sep 2013, p.105]

It's unswervingly catchy stuff. [Aug 2010, p.116]

Tasteful and muted, it's one for the connoisseur, not the casual fan. [Jun 2011, p.120]

Snow Patrol are on their way to becoming essential. [May 2006, p.120]

Ambitious, yes, inventive, sometimes, but waiting for those rare moments of clarity is like trying to catch a cloud in a colander. [Nov 208, p.118]

Their chart-friendly clothes fit them well. [Oct 2007, p.98]

Stronger on revved-up dancehall than coffee-table soul, it's on the collaborations they really come into their own. [Feb 2011, p.125]

While these songs feel debulked, The Coral still can't square-peg their music to fit in neatly. [Aug 2018, p.117]

It's all very melancholy and mysterious, as you'd imagine, but the production has a pleasingly seductive, 12st-century sheen. [Dec 2013, p.103]

Okereke's voice, at times feels a bit too up close and personal. [Dec 2014, p.111]

Both the Reid brothers' nice and nasty sides are represented. [May 2007, p.128]

The harmonies never reach the heights of say, Toro Y Moi--though Night In The Ocean's fusion of hip-hop thud and buzzing shoegaze guitars shows a welcome willingness to try. [Mar 2012, p.113]

Trash Talk's speed punk is the musical equivalent of the third can of Red Bull: a great idea at the time, but may well produce a headache after. [Dec 2012, p.113]

Fink runs the folk gamut from A and B quite beautifully. [Aug 2014, p.106]

While they are likely to appease their devotees with this solid, if unadventurous record, it seems that Death Cab For Cutie will continue preaching to the converted. [Apr 2015, p.110]

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]

What might have been a solid, politically-tinged LP is let down by poodle-yelped vocals. [Jun 2014, p.104]

The sound of a man finding freedom, it's an impressive reincarnation. [Mar 2016, p.112]

Once again, then, it's a case of could do better. [Apr 2008, p.115]

In other words, the man's a ham, but a terrific one. [Aug 2009, p.109]

Hemingway's Whiskey is very much par for the course. [Dec 2010, p.114]

Fans of No Age and Best Coast will recognize the formula here - but what the band lack in originality they compensate for in energetic spark. [May 2012, p.93]