The Skinny's Scores

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For 1,576 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 55% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 41% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 75
Highest review score: 100 Aa
Lowest review score: 20 Heartworms
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,069 out of 1576
  2. Mixed: 502 out of 1576
  3. Negative: 5 out of 1576
1576 music reviews
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    • 84 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Great Bailout
    The Great Bailout, while resting handily within her trademark virulent atmospheres and spoken word, is among her most impenetrable and least entertaining from a practical sense. This is not a fault of the record, but a necessary and expected byproduct of its existence, as each track runs up to ten minutes in a dirge of menacing poetry with instrumentals more evocative of a sinister mood-piece than a traditional song
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    You'll Have to Lose Something
    When it works well on the record it’s sublime, these snapshots sculpting little scenes, feeding just enough to intrigue but remain elusive. .... However, when it doesn’t connect, as on THE CUT DEPICTS THE CUT, these mutations feel needy, like they're born out of a fear the listener will get bored if there aren’t fireworks every 15 seconds, rather than it being necessarily what is best for the song.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Different Talking
    Moments of rock brilliance are scarce. Your Take On, with dissonant 60s-esque guitars and talk-singing, is a jolt from whisper-soft vocals surrounding 2022’s Inner World Peace. Later tracks see development sacrificed for quantity. Despite treading familiar territory, Different Talking’s soothing melodies are tailor-made to accompany life's quiet corners.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    End of Everything
    A selection of often very solid songs that waivers a touch towards its back end, but nonetheless marks another solid entry to the output of an always interesting artist.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    I'm Bad Now
    Nap Eyes are mostly concise in their wanderings, but occasionally meander too far from the path.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Paint My Bedroom Black
    Although all of the tracks on the record blend seamlessly together, many sadly sound similar to the last, with only a few stand-outs such as Superbloodmoon, a collaboration with American singer-songwriter d4vd.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Eleven Fugues for Sodium Pentothal
    These nine tracks prioritise serenity and beauty in their evocation of some unknowable beyond. Their sparkle can become almost too perfect, which makes the dark abruptness of the last two pieces feel like release, even if they throw its general hopefulness into uncertainty.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Course of the Satellite
    Although not completely original or life changing, this collection of songs provides a fresh angle on the early days of Friendly Fires and Tame Impala; with such a talent for refreshing the past, who knows what will come next.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    LP5
    While the album can feel sluggish at times, Ring’s knack for constructing textured sonic architecture is still a draw.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Threads
    For the most part we're in familiar territory: the sounds are familiar, the production is crisp and the songs are full of the colour of widescreen Americana.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    7
    While they may not have completely achieved seventh heaven here, 7 is still a solid first step heralding Beach House’s next phase.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Competition
    Essentially, while Hunter is fiercely conveying an important message, one's enjoyment will depend on the unsubtle nature of the message or the slightly formulaic nature of the music – but with openers as soaring as Galapagos, it sure is hard to resist.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Honey
    Ultimately Honey is one of the more interesting experiments in the use of AI, but in this case it feels like a watering down of emotional impact from an artist who has never had an issue when it comes to capturing hearts and moving bodies.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Iris [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
    The resulting album feels like an exercise in understatement, and contextually it’s difficult to know whether it’s a case of self-restraint or a situation in which the shackles are being enforced.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Some Nights I Dream of Doors
    Some Nights I Dream of Doors feels like a real expression of Umoh’s wide-ranging influences and it succeeds in showcasing his diverse vocal range. However, at times it feels restrained and, for an artist as unique as Umoh, it feels like a missed opportunity.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Valve Bone Woe
    Producers Marius De Vries and Eldad Guettta, alongside the Valve Bone Woe Ensemble, have helped Hynde find the sweet spots on a selection of songs that bring to mind Iggy Pop's excursions into jazz or the sound of Bob Dylan's recent covers collections.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Any Day
    Eschewing electronic production flourishes in favour of some analogue authenticity, Any Day eventually settles into its groove. The melodies are intricate and layered, but the impressive musicality is outweighed by a lack of urgency.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Cartoon Darkness
    There’s plenty of the usual Amyl fare here, with some absolute stompers right out of the gate.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Demise Of Planet X
    It sometimes roars to life, while other tracks present a flat wall of noise. Gina Was emerges as the album’s most musically complete moment, showing what they can do when it all comes together.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Girl at the End of the World
    Girl at the End of the World is, on one level, more of the same: bulging arrangements; hefty half-hooks; Tim Booth's screwy commentary connecting somewhere to the left of immediately comprehensible. But it's also intelligent, accomplished and likeable.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Inner Journey Out
    Perhaps a wee bit too derivative for some--Tres Warren’s scuzzy washed-up vocals evoke Anton Newcombe. Still, there’s enough here to trigger intrigue should you make the effort.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Electric Lines
    An admirable album concept, sure, but it is this preoccupation with the connections between different genres which robs Electric Lines of a galvanising, driving force.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ladytron
    This is a record that feels handcrafted for the fans that waited so long for new material. Had you already previously invested in their icy yet sleek sound, then Ladytron is a welcome, if not wholly groundbreaking, return.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Age of Anxiety
    With more thematic clarity and less of a throw in everything and the kitchen sink attitude, The Age of Anxiety could have been a phenomenal debut for Pixx. Despite the high quality of many of the tracks, however, there’s just a bit too much going on for it to all make sense.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Guadalupe Plata (2015)
    The Andalucian trio's fourth album was recorded live to eight track tape and you can tell: the arrangements are raw, the production barely there, the sound an abrasive, all-consuming clatter. It's an elementary mix but there's a blackened spirituality within its shadows.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Whatever Forever
    The trio certainly thrash away confidently (and with no let-up), but it’s the tangents that offer the biggest thrills.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Spilt Milk
    At times this feels like a celebration of what can be achieved with three chords and an earnest tale, intelligently told.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Does Spring Hide its Joy
    There are long stretches, particularly during the muted take on V1 in which the pieces are impressive rather than affecting, where you can marvel at Malone’s skill with timbre without being moved in any way. It leaves a sense that the album feels more like one for the most committed fans of all three artists, but one that, given the chance, has some astonishing moments.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Happy in the Hollow
    TOY continue to put their own unique spin on psychedelia with Happy in the Hollow, and it’s one that clearly works, but ultimately the record lacks in any kind of urgency and doesn’t push much further on what the band have already achieved with previous albums.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Family Portrait
    A couple of the more traditionally structured techno tracks can feel a little too cold and laboured, sometimes feeling longer than their actual run-time. Despite this, when it pushes boundaries and dips its toe further into avant-garde territory, Family Portrait can be an immersive exploration of dance music.
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