There's plenty to like about Strangers to Ourselves; it's just that it genuinely baffles that an LP as sprawling as this can have so many different ideas, and so few new ones.

Listeners will likely feel as though they've heard much of this stuff before and, while not of it is bad, that sensation does not exactly make for a compelling listen.

Powerplant is not the strongest record they'll release, but neither, you'd imagine, will it be their last. There's more than enough here to suggest that we may still be in the earlier days of a long and beautiful friendship.

Overall, Entanglement continues Erased Tapes' music and emotional aesthetic which can lift up the anchor of imagination and let its listeners float in its possibilities.

On a surface level, I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler--the group's first album to be released by Downtown Records--has some exceptionally catchy moments.... Still, I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler leaves the listener wishing for a little less preaching and a little more grooving.

IV is perhaps a little too ambitious for its own good. Grandiose aims are never to be scoffed at, but considering that IV's highs are so remarkably high and its lows are so forgettable, one cannot help but wish that BBNG had smoothed out the product.

So while In Glendale is not groundbreaking, revolutionary or gut busting levels of funny, it still provides a humorous, pleasant and suitably mundane peek into the life of a man who has long established himself as a champion of surreal strangeness.

Pick things apart, and it’s a fine addition to the St. Louis band’s catalogue--there are several songs here that will catalyze their already electric live show.

While there are elements to Days Gone By that still don't sit right, the album is an honest exploration of moods, and Bob Moses' unique combination of dance movement and introspective songcraft engages.

Much of the album treads familiar ground, not only to long-time listeners of Fort Romeau, but for any fan of the more minimalist side of House.

Hiccups aside, Begin is an otherwise highly enjoyable album, one that sees Lion Babe fearless in their willingness to experiment with various styles in order to see what works and what doesn't, and it's through that process of discovery that they will eventually find their groove and hopefully the hit singles they are striving to create.

There aren't too many moments on the band's fourth studio LP that are going to reach out and steal you away.

By removing its circumstantial baggage entirely, The Wild Heart Of Life is satisfying and uplifting, and continuously so. But it feels in every way--sans the band’s personal serenity--a regression after Celebration Rock.

Smote Reverser has a strange sense of uncertainty. While Dwyer hasn’t veered away from his band’s unmistakable proggy garage rock sound, he doesn’t feel as invigorated as usual. The multiple flavors of Oh Sees are swirled together, and it ends up a bit diluted.

More Rain is a graceful, though somewhat unrewarding member of that career.

While the group’s mutual wit and sense of lyrical structure could elevate the flattest of records, the kineticism and gleeful weirdness of their individual work is bafflingly absent. Czarface Meets Metal Face is polished but never makes good on the thrills promised by their teasing enterprise ‘Ka-Bang’ off Czarface’s 2015 record Every Hero Needs A Villain.

Ogilala lives and dies by the strength of its songwriting, and while there’s nothing here that even sniffs at the coattails of Corgan’s best work, it is probably the most consistent and least offensively pretentious album he’s put out in, well, nineteen years.

Thank You For Today is uninspired but competent and honest, a laudable addendum to an unquantifiably meaningful legacy.

Their sound feels a little dated, especially when you consider the amount of bands who just a few years ago were producing very similar material. Yet, they show promise and in their final song 'Call Me' show a more introspective side with Vangelis style synthesisers over reverberated guitars.

Colours is not a bad record, far from it. It does, however, feel like an experiment that has gone slightly out of control; exhilarating and dazzling at times, worrying at others.

These Days... is a messy album: half completely unimpressive and half brilliant; botched skits; combined songs and an occasional identity crisis make judging the album as a cohesive whole very difficult indeed.

This is a really hard album to try and get in to, but when it does all click, it feels good. Sometimes it's just hard to tell whether the effort you're putting in is being rewarded or not.

It's a superficial thrill ride but without those evocative moments, that captivating emotional core, it lacks staying power.

Taken in isolation each track holds up extremely well, but as a complete piece of work it sometimes seems to rely on a few too many repeated motifs.

After a year of baited breathing, we seem to have arrived at an in-between. There's still plenty of fun to be had in the waiting room, but let's hope he has more in store for the next appointment.

There is a little too much grace and not enough diss.

While there are hours of discussions to be had about whether "electronic/classical" hybrids can consistently sound good in a pop context, New Eyes provides ample evidence for erring on the electronic side of that split.

Noveller is nothing if not consistent and A Pink Sunset Over No One is another fine example of such success.