Best skip Stray Cat Blues though, a track so problematic it's a wonder Operation Yewtree haven't opened a file on it. [Jan 2019, p.117]

Their debut LP serves as an impressive case for why--a mingling of youthful bombast and strikingly mature ambition, the songs here are anthemic, introspective, delightful. [Jun 2017, p.102]

Quietly, and confidently, Two Door Cinema Club march on. [Summer 2019, p.116]

This genuinely feels like a fresh start rather than time-killing. [Mar 2003, p.100]

Settle may be a lot less rowdy than Basement Jaxx's bellwether 1999 album Remedy, but it pulls off a similarly timely coup by pulling together a number of clubland threads, imposing a keen pop sensibility and idiosyncratic vision, and riding the crest of a rising tide. [Jul 2013, p.104]

A lot to take in, then, but a lethally brilliant concoction. [Aug 2013, p.107]

It makes a great introduction to an oft-overlooked band. [May 2011, p.133]

What gives the routine anew life is Knox's very modern talent for hiding barbed insults under lovely orchestration. [Feb 2019, p.112]

If World Eater has an ear for the end-times rave-up, it's also not going anywhere gently. [Apr 2017, p.111]

Their thrillingly angry seventh album is a more furious companion piece to "American Idiot," raging at both social injustice and the self-righteousness of the punk underground. [June 2008, p.138]

The results defy you to even care whether it's real or fake: it rocks, end of story. [Apr 2015, p.107]

These are languidly addictive songs that barely seem there on first listen but soon emerge from the mist to take up residence in your life. [Jul 2017, p.107]

Provides a stirring reminder of how cross-cultural encounters spark new musical forms. [Aug 2020, p.107]

Shaka Rock avoids critical flak, however, by harnessing their Stones-age rock with a groovy undercarriage. [Oct 2009, p.114]

It's hard not to be drawn into their occult world. [Jun 2013, p.99]

They're sparkling again. [Aug 2018, p.111]

Her innate spikiness keeps the schmaltz in check. [Oct 2019, p.108]

Surprisingly heartfelt. [Mar 2020, p.114]

Aventine does not reveal its atmospheric charms instantly and the brief instrumental Tokka is a reminder she can veer too close to chamber music, but repeated listens unfurls all sorts of wonder. [Nov 2013, p.113]

Melnyk's compositions wobble and hesitate, as if embarrassed by their beauty. Brief moments of optimism strike a philosophical tone, his notes dancing around an equilibrium that never quite arrives. [Feb 2019, p.112]

It all peaks on Raw Language, distorted saxophone and choral voices speaking together with thrilling intensity. [Jul 2017, p.107]

It shows that whatever life brings her, Case can turn it into something startling. [Jul 2018, p.108]

A third-eye dilator to be sure, but surprisingly easy to groove to. [Jul 2009, p.131]

Wilson never forgets the melodies or real sentiment. [May 2013, p.113]

It takes a while for these hushed, subtle songs to change the mood of a room, but when they do, it's as striking as sun through the blinds. [Summer 2019, p.108]

This is a quietly adventurous coming of age, as languorous and fuzzy around the edges as a summer afternoon.

For all the troubled lyrics, these songs pack punches. [Jun 2011, p.111]

The thumping drums and syncopated string throughout still channel the 1980s, while Good News (Ya-Ya Song) harks back to the summer of 1999, all clipped guitar and MTV beats. [Oct 2019, p.114]