Whatever they ought to be doing is lost in mess of lame ideas buoyed by big hooks and pop flourishes.

Smile! :D is a weird album. It’s equal parts disappointing and enjoyable: it’s a good time if you don’t pay too much attention and zone out every once in a while. Most of all, it’s a failed experiment.

That’s their secret sauce: there’s no bells, whistles, or trappings that can replace songwriting with an important core message. Once again, Silberman and co. deliver that incredible depth and meaning, with an earnestness like only they can muster.

The compositions and the lyrics are strong, while the guys feel like they had a lot of fun recording.

A masterpiece of edgy, pop-infused rock composed with intelligence.

For the most part Hats Off To The Buskers is second-tier British post-punk.

Matilda expands on the palette considerably, shooting off on several tangents without muddying the overall aesthetic at all. It's harder to get into than Stateless, but once this sinks in properly, it's even better.

While it still sounds fresh it's still wearing the same threads, still talking in the same voice and moving in exactly the same way.

As crushing as some of these songs are, Heartthrob never lets you feel the weight, but prefers to revel in emotions good or bad, most often while sweating everything out under a crystalline disco ball.

This is one of Moby’s most cohesive efforts, so if you don’t dig this side of his musical output or look for a wild diversity, you’d be a bit disappointed. Other than this, the record flows surprisingly nice, unveiling a lot of strong material.

All in all, Henry St. marks a triumphant return for The Tallest Man On Earth, as he once more emerges from the Swedish countryside to take the folk world by storm. This time, though, he’s got companions, leading to a fuller and richer sonic journey than ever before.

Arrangements shift almost entirely between verses, and a dense, psychedelic mix feat. hyperkinetic panning makes you turn up that Mario Caldato Jr. goodness and just lose yourself in the noise only to find yourself being pummelled by Love Heart Cheat Code's final brace of tracks.

Ultimately though, these are minor gripes for what is an otherwise solid debut from a band which looks poised to make waves in the independent music scene for years to come.

One gets the feeling that they will have to make such a decision prior to album number two. Until then, what we have here with Lucid Dreaming is an enjoyable--but flawed - debut LP that hints at something special, but whose sum of its parts are ultimately greater than the whole.

Ringer may not be as varied as some of Hebden’s prior releases yet it is certainly a unique stab into the vast world of electronica.

“Chasing Birds” and “Love Dies Young” are very forgettable, sure, “Cloudspotter” (with the exception of the guitar effect in the verse, which reminds me of Torche’s “Admission”) and “Waiting on a War” are a little flat and uninspired, but overall, this is a decent return for the band and it should quench any Foo Fighters fan's thirst.

It is an album that builds on everything she had done previously, but with a much more personal and mature touch than I ever expected from her.

Not the Actual Events is one of the greatest Nine Inch Nails releases ever.

Almost every song is terribly alike--each featuring the same hallmarks Nadja’s become known for, besides their most important aspect, being their relentless creativity--and this bland similarity becomes taxing.

There's little that goes out of its way for your attention but the elegance and restraint is exactly what gives most of the songs, like "It's Hard To Get Around The Wind" with the preceding "Even if you know which way it's gonna blow" line, their colour.

While Dark Adrenaline doesn't break down any barriers and won't win any points for originality, it is still a very solid release and probably the best thing Lacuna Coil have done in almost a decade.

The massive hooks and catchy choruses that the band has forever been associated with also return, providing Lowborn with some of the group’s most memorable tracks.

The Future Bites traverses a strange course ripe with rewarding avenues and detours of failed attempts alike. It’s nothing if not fascinating, and will perhaps be more rewarding to those with a high tolerance for unorthodox marriage of various elements influenced by Prince, 1980s pop, modern electronic music, and alternative rock.

Common's latest shows him with his head in the clouds and addressing the same tired crowd with the same speech he's been writing for years.

This feels like a halfway point between a true Flaming Lips full-length and one of their many novelty side-ventures. This is undoubtedly a worthwhile pursuit for fans of the band that also marks a welcome return to accessibility; maybe with a bit of a stronger backbone, it could have been more.

Wonky is a work full of many flaws and too few shining moments, but as ammunition for the obvious tours to follow, there's enough here to be effective enough in a large enough setting.

Occasionally, it becomes exhausting, making it hard to finish listening V in one go. Nevertheless, when it clicks, it definitely sparks joy.

Burials is secure in its intentions. It's not looking to push borders or dabble in a misremembered nostalgia. Burials' only goal is catharsis and that is why it succeeds.