A modish conflation of acoustic guitars, violins, subtle electronics and artfully detached vocals, located somewhere near Amnesiac-era Radiohead. [Feb 2005, p.104]

With its shoebox percussion and no-budget production, Sleeper is a work of desolate, cracked genius. [Sep 2013, p.108]

Seventy minutes of mind-bending, head-spinning hip hop is a lot to take in one sitting, but this is nevertheless hugely inventive stuff if taken in smaller doses. [Jun 2005, p.116]

Built To Spill sound as if they're trying too hard, and ultimately both The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev do this sort of thing with far more panache.

The Grocery [is] riveting. If Manchester Orchestra are guilty of being a tad too serene elsewhere, it must also be noted that sounding beautiful is a good problem to have. [Sep 2017, p.113]

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are indeed funny, but over the course of an album they're musical enough to withstand repeated plays. [June 2008, p.138]

Vague prog touches and thrash influences soon emerge, offering breadth and depth. [Dec 2012, p.109]

[The] debut is a blast from start to finish. [Aug 2015, p.104]

Utterly distinctive, this excellent, effortlessly surprising record is the perfect cleanser for even the most jaded musical palette. [Jan 2016, p.106]

The songs here are real beauties. [Jan 2018, p.110]

Brilliant debut, splicing rock, modern pop and EDM. [Aug 2019, p.116]

Simons and Rowlands are making music that has the dizzying plasticity of their best work. [Jun 2019, p.113]

This is the sound of a man doing exactly what he wants, rather than what everyone expects and it's totally compelling. [Nov 2019, p.115]

Occassionally the set suffers from too much studio polish and not enough grit. [Jan 2009, p.116]

He'll always be too mannered for mainstream acceptance, but there's unarguable brilliance here. [Nov 2010, p.105]

The melodic charms are epic, the lyrical insights about romantic disappointment universal. [Feb 2015, p.114]

A dazzling listen. [Mar 2012, p. 105]

Amid the shiny licks, the hallmarks of his previous work remain. [Dec 2015, p.111]

Only the very dedicated need apply. [Jun 2009, p.119]

Quite unlike any other record you'll hear this year. [Nov 2013, p.116]

Tongue-in-cheek though this often is, the self-indulgence is never at the expense of the music. [Jul 2014, p.114]

Precisely assembled, melodic songs that shiver with emotion. [Sep 2006, p.107]

A textbook case of college rock, performed very well. [Oct 2004, p.129]

Akin to Manu Chao backed by The Go Team!, fortunately it's no one-off. [Nov 2008, p.117]

Gurnsey has pushed his ghost disco to its exhilarating limits. [Aug 2018, p.109]

The whole set is sumptuously produced and is the trio's most fully realised sonic adventure yet. [Summer 2020, p.98]

This is magnificent. [Apr 2016, p.105]

A rugged, roaring listen. [Oct 2011, p.117]