A Youthful Dream sounds too much like the result of a punk group attempting to break out of the strictures of their genre without knowing exactly where else to turn.

Friends is White Lies’ least inspiring record both musically and thematically; they appear to be back in identity crisis mode, and it might not be recoverable this time around.

In all, it's a glossy debut that certainly gives you something to shout about.

Menace Beach seem to be taking the opportunity of a rather ominous looking 2017 to create a pretty attractive alternative musical universe for them and their fans to inhabit.

The Pace Of The Passing is an expansive and ambitious record that should delight fans of Bombay Bicycle Club but also pull in listeners not be so acquainted with his previous work.

Overall, this is a much better album from the now quartet from the North-East. While it is still a long way from achieving the status of A Certain Trigger, Risk To Exist reveals Maxïmo Park in a new light and is certainly a step in the right direction.

TRather than being a simple tribute, Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John is a stunning addition to the story of both musicians. Thankfully, there are hundreds of songs left for Hatfield to do on Part II.

Spacious but awash with invention, Arrhythmia will be easily overlooked by many, but cherished by those that take the time to live with, and in, it for a while.

Phantastic Ferniture is pumped with enough care-free energy and catchy pop hooks to brighten up the darkest of days.

The impulsive outpouring of Noise & Romance is reminiscent of Deerhunter and their side projects back in their prolific Microcastle / Weird Era Cont. days; flooded with good ideas and inclined to put them all to use.

It’s full of genuinely bracing moments that deftly thread punk grit with austere humour and unabashed sincerity. It’s just a shame that what they’re best at seems to have been done so well so recently by other bands.

Petrichor lingers long after the final note. This is not just Shake’s best work – it’s a classic in the making.

We were promised an album of violent thrills, but we just have The Prodigy on auto-pilot here.

Artificial Sweeteners doesn’t have a great deal of low-end to it, and struggles for genuine groove as a result.

It was too easy for Weiss and Presant to make a record like this: they’ve not challenged themselves, and they’ve certainly not challenged the listener.

It’s a brave act on Furler’s part, to stand up and present a body of work that so many other people deemed not good enough, but ultimately, it’s a great collection of pop songs, cynical or not.

This is pop, pure and simple, and taken as such, is a rollicking pleasure.

The Beyond Clueless album stands on its own merits; it is as much a soundtrack to your own memories/current experience of tennagerdom as it is to Lyne’s documentary.

Even without the visuals, the mood and narrative of Vanbot’s journey are sometimes sharply articulated, sometimes mysterious--we can piece together a story, or just sit back and observe as it passes.

Unhealthy though it may be, the pain expressed certainly produced a great debut.

Though the album isn’t an entreaty for mass acceptance, Tobacco’s music does sound increasingly comfortable in its stitched-up skin.

Aureate Gloom makes for a confused, scary, frustrating wallow into the psyche of a man I’m starting to fear getting to know any better.

Overall though, this still feels like a missed opportunity; a more inspired roll call of contributors could have pushed Song Reader into essential listening territory. As it is, fans might well get more out of playing these songs than listening to them. Then again, that was always the point.

Hexadic works best when Chasny dials down the guitar squall and channels his energies towards more nuanced fare.

Outside sounds exactly like the repetitive spinning wheels on a bus (going ’round and ’round) and causes you to become restless and slightly angry of its lack of forward movement.

He's had a reputation for being guarded in the past, but on Trick, we see him wear his heart on his sleeve.

Even in busier moments, there is sufficient enough breathing room to catch each sound and instrument’s subtle exhalations.

Delivering on both slow-burn emotional complexity and quick-hit thrills, Sir is a welcome return for an underrated group whose influence on contemporary pop music is often overlooked.