For a band named after a benchmark of mediocrity, it's fitting that they bow out consumed by matters so ordinary. [Sep 2007, p.134]

Muttering Jon Langford, golden-toned Sally Timms, and the rest of this sweaty eight-strong mob are at their red-eyed best here. [Sep 2007, p.134]

The band's latest is sublimely elegant and more maturely conceived.

The Danish duo condense pop's last 45 years into the pure, simple essence of an early Jackson 5 single. [Sep 2007, p.132]

The vintage makeover suits them well. [Oct 2007, p.100]

Singer/songwriter Will Sheff gives overkill a good name on Okkervil River's fourth album. [Sep 2007, p.136]

In small doses these acoustic dirges and country-rock laments--played at tempos that make Crazy Horse sound like Slayer--pass by indistinctly, but over time, the slow-blooming guitar solos and age-old folkie melodies of tracks like 'Bowery' and 'Trouble in Mind' reveal their sturdy, dignified strengths.

The result is seductive and understated, with familiar '60s touches. [Nov 2007, p.116]

Forever is livelier, grittier and better [than "Be."] [Aug 2007, p.101]

Even with precisely triggered drums and sensuously distorted bass lines, the band seems stuck in place. [Sep 2007, p.138]

McKeown's Marc Bolan-influenced rhymes and party-time shouts are always wryly slapdash, but the weaving bass line and expansive structure of 'Situation' indicate that 1990s still retain some of the members' arty ambitions.

War Stories feels more like a random compilation than a fresh exploration. [Aug 2007, p. 110]

Planet Earth is a consistent, exhilarating winner from our reigning genius. [Sep 2007, p.121]

The result is a bigger, slicker record laced with potent "American Idiot"-style Bush-bashing, a handful of emo-heavy relationship ballads, and very few surprises. [Sep 2007, p.138]

Thw Quin twins' new-wave pop hooks are stroonger than ever. [Aug 2007, p.109]

The Broken String pares down the track list and polishes the best of the EPs. [Sep 2007, p.123]

That tight, compressed punch [of staccato guitar rhythms] is augmented by subtle orchestrations whose airy ambience hints at the chameleon funk of David Bowie and the dance minimalism of early B-52's. [Aug 2007, p.106]

Emerald City may be his most unsettling work yet. [Aug 2007, p. 110]

The real story of this breathtaking follow-up... is Romeo Stodart's transformation from merely a good songwritier to an outstanding one. [Feb 2007, p.85]

Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons continue to smear psychedelic synth cheese and stereophonic airplane noises over chewy grooves that veer closer and closer to straight disco.

They return to the infectious anthems that made them Warped Tour headliners. [Aug 2007, p.110]

Editors have acquired a sense of urgency and emotion they lacked on "The Back Room." [Aug 2007, p.98]

Men's Needs isn't nearly as unique as Jarman thinks, but his tunecraft is often as sharp as his wit. [Aug 2007, p.100]

While the lyrics to 'On the Rise' never explicitly address the se-duction of addiction, the pretty drone that cuts through the jangly melody nails it exactly. [Aug 2007, p.104]

In the end, this is a loud, almost triumphant statement .

Admire feels oddly reined in, a transitional record by a band not yet willing to completely let go of the past.

The tug-of-war between bristly unavailability and candid confession mirrors a musical duet between post-punk snarls and genial pop charms. There's no resolution, but the struggle is endlessly compelling.

Time on Earth is an assured, soothing collection of sweet-tempered pop tunes ("Even a Child"), and ballads ("Pour Le Monde").