99.9% is an assertion of identity and a rejection of identity and a whole lot of other things all at once, and provides some of the most incredible music of the year all the same. If this is the sound of hip-hop today, we’re in a good place.

As bewildering as Will can be, the overall lack of structure leaves a large part of the experience up to the imagination.

Not unlike The Heroin Diaries, their latest effort suffers at times from inconsistency and filler, but at its very best, it’s a collection of highly engaging anthems that accomplish exactly what they set out to do.

It’s a shame Eno had to make so much of The Ship’s artistic vision. Divorced from pretence and divorced from the rest of the album, his final moments here are enjoyable.

Singing Saw is one of those albums that immediately captures your interest, but offers enough depth and hidden intricacies to make every subsequent listen just as rewarding.

As with so many flashy and polished pieces, often the initial effect far outweighs the real underlying substance. For now, though, we’re just going to have to enjoy Hope for what it is: an insanely catchy record from an indie-pop juggernaut that has likely just set the standard for radio-friendly folk.

Ultimately, regardless of how invested you choose to be in the sentiments of pessimism and dejection, Asphalt for Eden is thoughtful and eclectic, blending elements of shoegaze, industrial, boom-bap, and ambience both sedative and rousing. All the while, it balances a grim, overarching societal direction with a thwarted attitude.

It offers a collection of solid tunes that were unlikely to ever be conceived. The excitement behind them is noticeable, yet overall they could have been trimmed for the standard release.

Junk functions best as Gonzalez curating the soundtrack of his past, as on an individual basis these songs are usually quite enjoyable, well-crafted and dripping with affection for an era most people would prefer to forget.

Whether he’s steering the band into uncharted territory or showing off his roots, it always sounds undoubtedly like a Woods album--and that’s perhaps the greatest achievement of all.

The bookends of this record show flashes of potential--with gems sprinkled in between--but far and wide, this is a disappointingly vanilla offering from a group that has already proven itself to be capable of ensnaring our minds and ears. If you’re looking for a silver lining, though, at least these guys have matured.

There are a handful of potential hits on Distortland, still they needed some structuring or at least a more powerful instrumental to be compelling.

It’s warm, engaging, and possesses incredible aural imagery. This is a band that has truly resurrected themselves, having climbed out of a pool of stagnancy to craft what can only be considered one of the most creative and immediately likeable albums of the year.

The White Album manages to deliver on the promise showed by The Blue Album and Pinkerton without spending the entire time treading on familiar ground. Glowing with shades of the band’s past while differentiating its approach, The White Album sounds like a Weezer revitalized, reloaded, and ready to rock out like it’s ’94.

With their newest release, Eric Wunder as loosened the tether and slipped into the savage void. The band is all the better for it.

There are several elements from their entire career fused with new ones, as well as a newfound accessibility that also signals a creativity boost. It's great to see Underworld this vital once again, indeed facing a shining future.

Big Ups combine the elements in such a way that compliments their signature style without ever compromising their identity; Before a Million Universes will almost certainly be one of the most interesting punk releases of 2016 because of that.

The album's congruence in theme, tempo, and tone is both consistent and coherent. Together with Butch Walker, Catherine Popper, and long-time running mates Ian Perkins and Alex Rosamilia (among others), Painkillers is a carefully-cultivated record that Fallon categorically needed to write.

Pop music this shiny and smooth always captures our ears but rarely captures our hearts. Even if the same is true for the sticky sweet Good Grief, it provides a silver lining for Lucius to aspire towards.

United Crushers can come across as a draining listen, perhaps even an uncomfortable one to those accustomed to their earlier work. It takes a few listens to discern the resolve in Leaneagh’s lyrics, but it’s there.

It’s a pleasantly relaxed portrait of a band kicking back and stretching its legs.

The strength of The Ridge isn’t really in how it evokes emotions, or even to showcase Neufeld’s maturing skills, though it accomplishes both. Moreso, it succeeds in how it makes an indeterminate landscape worth trekking.

In all honesty, For All Kings is great, but it is definitely front-loaded. It could have used a few more thrashers down the line to really push it to the next level, but it is still the best thing they’ve done since Persistence of Time.

Traditional Synthesizer Music’s rudimentary way of coming to be has an added bonus in that it’s softer on the ears than pretty much any of its predecessors, making the points at which Funk wakes from his slumber all the more palatable.

This lovely journey offers both lush and haunting moments without sacrificing any of the experimental edges or familiar sounds.

It’s this unholy amalgam of anger and swagger and self-loathing and--above all--love, all served over some of the best production work the man has ever done.

Even with the steam the record loses near its end, its willingness to go for broke seals it as the group’s most thrilling and cohesive record yet.

Ultimately, Promise Everything is a solid collection of songs written by a band that, over the course of 3 albums, have shown that they rarely write a bad song. However, the majority of the songs feel a little too secure within their own skin; a little too tentative to deviate from the safety of their rough midtempo origins.