They're less assured on the more experimental numbers. [Aug 2020, p.109]

Plain Rap lacks the talents of Fatlip and Slimkid and it shows. The smart, polished Pharcyde backings - rich in jazz and rare groove - are still in evidence, but it's easy to miss the gawky verbals of all four rappers.

The follow-up to last year's scene-defining debut, Aerial, is every bit as good. On Lost, Huismans takes dubstep's booming sub-bass and frozen atmospherics and adds fuzzy keyboards and a spiralling vocal sample. [Dec 2009, p. 111]

Its breezy mix of acid pop, acoustic whimsy and sunshine funk drifts by with all the staying power of a warm afternoon. [Aug 2018, p.108]

At their worst The Stratford 4... are as far out as a Chapterhouse B-side. When they hit their freaked-out stride, however... they shake off the enervation and kick up some genuine rock'n'rool aggro. [Oct 2003, p.114]

It's a deeply Manchester album: melodic yet substantial, uplifting and acceptable to football fan and student alike. [May 2002, p.109]

This third album won't appease the doubters, the sound of their previous Billboard chart-crashing album now polished until it gleams like chrome. [Jun 2010, p.120]

His debut solo LP nods more to the latter [Cracker rather than Camper Van Beethoven]. [Jun 2011, p.119]

Lynne and Moorer are at their best on the straight country material, but their take on The Killers' My List usurps the original. Sadly, things take a turn for the worse later. [Sep 2017, p.113]

If the question is whether they're moving Busted forwards, then the answer is a resounding, robotic, synth-laden yes. [Dec 2016, p.105]

Too often proceedings feel half-baked. [May 2007, p.123]

Intriguing though Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon is, it remains unclear how he and his peculiar talent will thrive out there. [Oct 2007, p.104]

Breezy sort of fun to be had. [Jan 2012, p.126]

This enticingly dusky debut reveals a welcome underside to their home city of Tallinn's sometimes cloying indie-pop scene. [May 2018, p.111]

Powerful, atmospheric, but not for the fainthearted. [April 2012, p.94]

There are also welcome flashes of their own identity. ... At 14 songs, however, that saccharine sheen starts to grate a little. [Aug 2020, p.102]

Here, they may have taken self-effacement too far. [May 2003, p.114]

A handsomely crafted affair of aching sincerity and a light pleasing soulful touch. What's missing are a couple of standout tracks to get the ball rolling. [Feb 2011, p.124]

Pressure And Time is a powerful, soulful affair full of strut and swagger. [Aug. 2011, p. 119]

It's The Black Keys, Florence Welch and Julian Casablancas who walk the line between homage and reinvention most deftly. [Sep 2011, p.114]

Dawson's vision is exceptional; his sound is harder to follow. [Dec 2019, p.109]

There's decent adult pop to be had. [Jan 2016, p.111]

The album's first half is anchored by the hypnotic undertow of Pulls, but the mood intensifies later with RGB's distortion beats and Bird Milk's cocky electro-strut proving Gallear's at his best when sparring against more robust rhythms. [Dec 2014, p.109]

They don't sustain the quality of songwriting throughout, but this is a promising start.

The lyrical flash and chop-socky samples signify business as usual, but at heart 8 Diagrams is a bold move into deeper, mellower terrritory, and certainly a vast improvement on 2001's "Iron Flag." [Feb 2008, p.93]

The mix of therapy sessions and swooning love songs make for a slightly confused LP but not an unenjoyable one. [May 2018, p.108]

Their second album finds them full of anthemic swagger and brio. [Mar 2012, p. 97]

It's pastiche, certainly, but of a pleasingly arresting kind. [Jul 2009, p.118]