The Julie Ruin’s second full-band album, Hit Reset, slides with similar grace [as “Rebel Girl”] between the personal and political--between funny (or sad) polemic, and sad (or funny) pop romance.

Closer in spirit to Rancid's bighearted radio punk than to anything Pink has put her name on before--all scrappy power chords and wounded warmth. [Jan 2004, p.97]

Howl is not exactly the group's Nebraska--BRMC dabble in too much "White Album" Beatlemania for that--but it's a general extension of that record. [Sep 2005, p.101]

Their fatalist slow jams get more rickety as the minutes pass, but they're prettiest when they break down. [Sep 2005, p.109]

Ultimately, Guilt Show feels about as transitional as its predecessor; Pryor has stripped the cuteness from his songwriting but hasn't figured out how to make his dispatches from adulthood resonate the way his teenland stuff used to. [Apr 2004, p.91]

Just as messy as the Mescaleros' first two stabs at relevance. [Jan 2004, p.102]

[Sinatra's] is a light, ductile weirdness, and nearly all the contributing acolytes here play to it well. [Jan 2005, p.96]

Sometimes Kieran Hebden's electronic music is dawn-over-the-Buddhist-shrine gorgeous. [Jun 2005, p.108]

For good and ill, this jumble couldn't come from anyone but Malkmus. [Jun 2005, p.104]

Musically, Everclear sound almost exactly the same as when they signed with Capitol in 1995: punk, profoundly polished. But the details Alexakis sprinkles into the mix keep things interesting. [Apr 2003, p.102]

WWW stretches Whack’s stylistic range, reintroducing an artist who seems more deeply in tune with her emotions.

Mark Olson's harmonies are missed, but Gary Louris' shaky/sweet vocals suit the album's rueful vibe. [May 2003, p.116]

Packed with sparse, whirring, and danceable noise-rock refinements. [Apr 2005, p.108]

Alternately goofy, sweet, and weird. [Aug 2005, p.97]

MacKaye and Farina share a wobbly spirit that wears well. [May 2005, p.110]

A Death Cab For Cutie album you can listen to while ironing your cape. [Apr 2004, p.94]

In a world where 50 Cent name-drops [Talib] Kweli, Mos Def wants to keep the line between indie hip-hop and major-label rap nice and blurry. [Oct 2004, p.112]

The 'Sailor can often sound a little too elfin even by the standards of the early '70s orchestral folk rock they love. [Jan 2004, p.100]

Has moments of cheese-ball grace. [Mar 2006, p.95]

Over the course of 24 tracks, we get taut grooves set on Al Green cruise control, lots of havin'-fun-in-the-studio byplay, and the occasional spritz of rude fuzz-box gutiar to give all the gold-leaf detailing some shape. [combined review of both discs; Mar 2004, p.97]

Healy's wounded sneer makes you long for his misty croon. [Dec 2003, p.128]

[Has a] swirling spy-movie ambience. [Jun 2004, p.108]

The monster-chomp guitars and semiauto percussion are still in effect, but somebody spilled a little Pantene in the Pantera. [Jul 2004, p.108]

They all sound like pop songs... yet they all feel like country songs. [Aug 2004, p.107]

Time and practice have made them a far more straightforward rock band. [Oct 2004, p.120]

Pursues a darker strain of irony. [Dec 2004, p.124]

Prince’s main weakness is the urge to display his own mind-boggling talent.

At times, it seems like mid-level fame yields too many tour-based gripes for Slug. [Nov 2005, p.103]