"Listen to the silence" goes the repeated refrain from first single Always. Sometimes that wouldn't be a bad idea. [Aug 2016, p.112]

On Desire shows Drowners deepening and darkening the intrigue around them. [Aug 2016, p.111]

The youngsters prove themselves masters of dynamics, in The Mountain's gradually explosive ascent, and the muscular spasms of They Keep Silence. [Aug 2016, p.113]

Wild Things is as likeable as it is cutting edge. [Aug 2016, p.113]

Studio-recorded, the all-covers Blues And Ballads reels in his wilder live flights to pensive effect. [Aug 2016, p.114]

A far more considered affair, wistful, even half-regretful, yet redolent of breezing down the freeway from the Deep South to California with the Stones and Flying Burrito Brothers on the radio. [Aug 2016, p.114]

Only the closing tracks, where they grow overwhelmed by their own inertia, stands between this and something essential. [Aug 2016, p.115]

Seratones' opening salvo might be impressive but you can't help feeling their timing couldn't be worse. [Aug 2016, p.117]

There are some fine moments, chief among them the searing Ordinary World and the delicate ballad Lost, but there's a feeling The Temper Trap will never again match the bombastic euphoria of their breakthrough track. [Aug 2016, p.117]

A block off the old Chip. [Aug 2016, p.117]

It's their best album in nearly 20 years. [Aug 2016, p.112]

Tracks can occasionally patter past without triggering the same fight-or-flight response, but when their machinery really gears up, they remain masters of electronic mood. [Aug 2016, p.115]

[Hollow Bones] is Rival Sons' finest work yet. [Aug 2016, p.115]

It's frustratingly patchy. [Aug 2016, p.114]

An odd, deliberately unpunchy comeback. [Aug 2016, p.114]

Underneath their smart stylistic kinks, however, lies a fundamentally old-fashioned imagination. [Aug 2016, p.107]

Deftly deploying percolating electronica, natural instruments and overlapping vocal lines all the more emotionally gripping for the studied semi-affectlessness of Georgas's intimate delivery, Walsh transforms good songs into a great record. [Aug 2016, p.112]

Ultimately, with its emphasis on synths and beats over the sterling melodies of Love Letters, Summer 08 ends up coming over like a stopgap offering--or a Joe Mount solo record--rather than the next Metronomy album proper. However, those who miss the slightly demented groves of the pre-fame Metronomy are advised to dive in. [Aug 2016, p.112]

After nearly 20 years, their sonic spell shows no sign of fading. [Aug 2016, p.111]

It won't dethrone Endtroducing... from the pantheon but at last Davis has rediscovered the hidden door to that entrancing night-time world. [Aug 2016, p.111]

In the moving figure of The Bride, Khan has delivered her defining statement as an artist. [Aug 2016, p.109]

Against the odds, Norris and Alkan really do possess the magic touch. [Aug 2016, p.108]

California is desperately unadventurous. [Aug 2016, p.108]

Crackling with the background ambience of heckle and cheer, it's a decent attempt at bottling live lightning, if a slightly self-satisfied one. [#361, p.107]

A record that hasn't cut itself off from its predecessor, yet sounds more dramatically expansive and forward-facing. [Jul 2016, p.102]

A wonderful album that exists in its own little world. [#361, p.112]

They're far from failed experiments, but they do reinforce the notion that Necro Deathmort are much better at making atonal soundscapes. [Jul 2016, p.112]

Yes, there's a touch of the body-painted Glastonbury theatre troupe here, but Let's Eat Grandma's spell is binding. [#361, p.111]