There's always a sense of menace, but it's surprisingly restrained. [May 2015, p.78]

The result is a rich, expansive yet considered album of indie rock meets shoegaze. [Aug 2025, p.32]

The second half of this compilation, thoughtfully assembled by Gotye's Wally De Backer, features Perrey demonstrating the range of the Ondioline's sonority with 10-second clips of him mimicking a banjo, castanets, oboe and so on, restored from the original acetate. The first half collects 11 of Perrey's more conventional Ondioline compositions from the '50s and '60s. [Aug 2017, p.48]

It's a calmer, less ambitious album than 2001's All This Sounds Gas, but no less beguiling. [Mar 2004, p.92]

The perfect needle, pitched into the red every time. [Sep 2015, p.81]

An absorbing listen. [Mar 2005, p.102]

Their jangly, soulful, melodic take on punk-pop still has freshness and urgency. [Nov 2015, p.80]

They have produced a cohesive work that marries gauzy dreampop with more robust indie-rock. [Dec 2012, p.77]

In places it has a feel of soundtrack work, strangely restrained for such club fiends, but their grasp of pensive, unsettling dynamics is firm. [Jan 2013, p.80]

By combining focused layers and distinctive styles, The Coathangers have crafted their best record yet. [Apr 2019, p.26]

If anything, it can feel a little too smoothed out, and some more grit in the production wouldn't go astray. [Apr 2016, p.71]

[The Hexadic System] sounds complicated, but primarily this is a guitar record. [Mar 2015, p.81]

It’s an album packed with leftfield ideas and off-kilter lyrical narratives seemingly fashioned in fever dreams. [Aug 2021, p.24]

It’s rarely coherent and not always pretty, but the most effective therapy rarely is. [Oct 2022, p.26]

Quality levels are high, with Cate Le Bon's sleek Krautpop chanson "Gallant Foxes" and Claire Tchaikowski's aqueous ambi-folk ballad "That Fever" helping to excuse a small handful of underpowered, over-polished numbers. [Mar 2014, p.73]

There's a passion and naturalism to these songs that make them worthy of the hubbub. [Apr 2012, p.75]

The music is mid-paced pummel of snarling electronic bass and beats through which Liam Howlett's nutty synths occasionally sail like a haunted bumper car. [May 2015, p.78]

Pramuk takes listeners on a rich inner-space odyssey. [Aug 2025, p.37]

As a rule, the more breakneck the pace of these instrumentals, the less effective they are. [Nov 2003, p.107]

It's stuffed with Staxy beats, clicking bass and Hi-Life bounce. [Jun 2015, p.81]

He's touted as a songwriter's songwriter in Music City, of all places, and the twangy highlights of this album ring true to that accolade. [Sep 2018, p.32]

It's all gracefully wrought. [Jul 2014, p.73]

Her self-produced Domino debut is an alluring tale of heartbreak and romance, framed by murky electro ballads and scuffed synthwave. [Sep 2015, p.75]

Gulp's debut Season Sun is spooked set of crepuscular pop, a Moogie wonderland furnished with some very good songs. [Aug 2014, p.73]

Though nothing here quite matches the melodic and emotional force of their first-album anthem "The Mother We Share," the quality threshold is high throughout. [Oct 2015, p.73]

It's indie rock like Mum used to make, and comfortingly invigorating as such. [Jul 2023, p.23]

Apart from the odd off-kilter minor key melody, they sound anything but bereft as Bagg's dreamy soprano, layers of melodic synths and soaring strings cast a dramatically romantic sheen over their pain. [Feb 2019, p.30]

A welcome return. [Jan 2013, p.81]

A mature album that's abrasive but not "freaky" or "weird", that enjoys its moments of harmony when it finds them, and is as serious-minded as the times demand. [Apr 2012, p.76]

The four-piece deliver their familiar brand of Cali power-pop, at once glossy and heart-on-sleeve. [Jun 2020, p.37]

There's no contrivance or compromise to be found here. [Sep 2020, p.36]

This is a marvellous collection of hooky acid rock that nods to UK '80s indie as well as '70s classic rock. [Mar 2024, p.32]

Yoshimi's ebullience is inescapable on Kila Kila Kila, from the gymnastic drumming to her ecstatic, Bjorkesian yelps. [Apr 2004, p.106]

Their choice of covers is pretty eclectic, from Sade to Spiritualized via obscure '70s rocker Unicorn. They're best when more animated. [Aug 2015, p.76]

Synths and drum machines dominate, courtesy of Epworth and producer Thom Monahan, lending Elytral a seemly patina of '80s dark-pop. [Oct 2017, p.26]

[Blixa Bargeld is] in a whimsical mood, Mae West-flirtatious on "Come Up And See Me" and the booming "I'm smiling/From the bottom of my fair-trade soul" on the title track. Meanwhile, a delicate cover of The Tiger Lillies' "Alone With the Moon" is dispatched with a rich sonority. [Aug 2013, p.77]

Cuts deeper and sharper than previous Decemberists efforts. [Sep 2005, p.116]

A fashionably unruly racket. [Mar 2005, p.100]

Allo Darling' have become more accomplished since their 2010 debut without losing the intimate charm that make their brand of "real indie" an enduring choice for outsider pop fans. [Nov 2014, p.69]

A set that touches on the laser-guided minimalism of his early work but mainly finds him knocking out shaggy bar-room psych and strung-out doo-wop. [Oct 2014, p.67]

An eventually rousing album. [Jun 2022, p.34]

An album crammed with adhesive melodies. [Jan 2013, p.81]

Grandfeathered is no great progression from last year's Everything Else Matters, but there is genre-defying richness and depth to [the] tunes. [Apr 2016, p.78]

An album of fierce ambition and undeniable charm. [Mar 2015, p.80]

Packed with musical and literary references, there's a lot to unpick, but tracks like "The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)" show the band still have a knack for pop hooks, albeit not as lo-fi as before. [Jun 2025, p.70]

Though beautifully produced, over 40 minutes these spacious, electronic soundscapes sometimes lacks bite, blurring comfortingly but unimaginatively into one another, their euphoric ambitions too often thwarted by their meanderings. [Apr 2014, p.81]

Freedom Tower showcases three men who grasp that great rock'n'roll can be at once rudimentary, virtuoso and preposterous. [May 2015, p.80]

Stina Tweeddale is very good at this punky Caledonian take on US bubblegum pop. [Jul 2019, p.29]

While Williams can operate at either extreme of the spectrum, the softer likes of "Dirt" - a haunting duet with Tom Fleming of Wild Beasts and One True Pairing - suggest where her true forte lies. [Aug 2020, p.39]

Broder at times takes the overly tasteful route, sounding like an experimental Billy Joel, but also boldly strays into latterday Scott Walker terrain. [Jun 2016, p.73]

It's a joyous set. [Sep 2018, p.35]

Valley Tangents takes long, deep breaths, fuzz guitar scrawling over meandering piano in a humidified room. [Jul 2012, p.69]

Cosmonaut is as stylishly warped as ever. [Oct 2016, p.35]

A record that is heavy on textures and atmospherics. [Mar 2022, p.36]

Tolchin's best work comes when he unburdens his soul. [Jan 2017, p.31]

The countrier she keeps it, the better. [Sep 2023, p.43]

Feedback-soaked rockers like "Little Drama" are played with maximum oomph, but much like, say, Ty segall, Krol laces his songs with all manner of sly twists and turns. [Feb 2019, p.29]

Into The Future is a heroic act of denial, nonetheless. The remaining Brains still burn with magnesium-strip intensity. [Jan 2013, p.82]

Eight lively compositions that strike a sometimes uneasy balance between structural rigour and woolier, woozier inclinations. [Jul 2025, p.29]

A more refined classic techno sound, paying homage to his adopted hometown of Detroit. [Aug 2016, p.71]

There are shades of Chvrches in the title track, with its soaring choruses and shimmering soundscapes, while "Bigger Than Love" is The xx with a massive soul injection. [Jul 2017, p.35]

The result is a delightful mix of new-wave-influenced pop and synth-laden Eno-style instrumentals. [Nov 2021, p.30]

While these sonic smudges sometimes feels scrappy, there are sublime interludes here too. [Nov 2021, p.35]

The Weighing Of The Heart marks a fresh start for Schott, whose decision to sing brings a warmth and intimacy to her music-box miniatures. [Jul 2013, p.73]

Edwards sounds comfortable and confident in this setting, although occasionally she indulges some awkward, first-draft lyrics. [Sep 2025, p.31]

Slothrust demonstrate a melodic elegance that belies their grunge-punk roots. [Jan 2022, p.29]

Upbeat, uptempo and clearly a lot of fun to make, Give Up Your Dreams is a funny and infectious record. [Sep 2015, p.80]

They sizzle with verve and invention. [Jun 2005, p.98]

Conjures worlds of chilly, pulsing synths and waspish guitar. [Mar 2021, p.27]

The best bits mash up the retro influences, like the krautrock-meets-Motown collision of the title track, the glam grunge of "The Best Is Yet To come" or the Weller-ish ballad "Scared Of Love". [Sep 2023, p.31]

Not so much a last will and testament. More a case of business as usual, for as long as he still can.

While the lack of any sound less than 30 years old does occasionally grate, Zeros ends up capturing a sinister cinematic vibe than John Carpenter would be proud of. [Jan 2013, p.82]

The Joy Formidable continue to keep British rock sexily sturdy. [Feb 2013, p.74]

[A] strong second album. [Mar 2015, p.73]

A collection of great intimacy and tenderness, inspired in part by the loss of her father. This is rich, melodic folk. [Jul 2021, p.27]

There's lots to admire in this wry, beautifully finger-picked set. [Feb 2014, p.71]

Queasy nostalgia suits Clinic. ... Wheeltappers offers more of the same--but you knew that. [Jun 2019, p.26]

The malevolence and needling insistency of Gang Of four and Fugazi are this record's core. [Apr 2012, p.77]

The resulting batch of picture-perfect recreations reveal Tuxedo as a one-trick pony, but it's a wicked clever one. [May 2015, p.83]

Their blue period, perhaps. It suits them. [May 2014, p.76]

He has a weakness for think, hackneyed lyrics, but a flair for inspired juxtapositions, too. [Jul 2015, p.71]

Point is a quietly beautiful, low-slung beach house record, a chill-out soundtrack to the distant sunrise over Tokyo bay. [Feb 2002, p. 120]

This solo debut sees him working within a very limited sonic palette--doomy, minor-key constructions featuring distorted rhythm guitar riffs played over a grid of '80s synths and drum machines. These can be effective when paired with grim lyrics of small-town realism. [Oct 2019, p.33]

No surprises, no classic, but a warm and well-produced set. [Oct 2015, p.78]

Leans heavily on the conceptual, but its 13 tracks can be enjoyed regardless of any familiarity with themes of Greek legends and seasonal cycles. [Dec 2020, p.30]

Sa Cities puts more weight on mood than on song, though, which means Shapiro, always an elusive singer, sometimes gets lost among all the synths. [Mar 2022, p.35]

While there's a groovy sweetness at work in "Clutch Pearlers", and "Bully" is anything but - a woozy, neon-pastel comforter with a head-nodding pulse. [Jun 2023, p.25]

The melodic facility and phrasing are as elegant as we have come to expect. [Sep 2002, p.118]

The Colour In Anything is Blake's fullest and boldest work yet. [Aug 2016, p.72]

Another furious, frenetic collection of lurching tear-ups. [Oct 2017, p.28]

De La still think and sound like no one else. [Feb 2002, p.114]

It's a sprawling affair. [Oct 2016, p.26]

This is a downbeat set, lean and lonesome yet never morose. [Nov 2019, p.38]

Mayall enthusiastically opens the door to funk and soul elements. [Feb 2022, p.32]

Woozy psych-folk remains her default setting, but there’s a fresh sense of experimentation at play here. [Jun 2022, p.26]

The Voices are usually disembodied munchkin bables which flutter appealingly around the mix, but sometimes Stumbleine makes proper songs. [Jan 2013, p.82]

The album's hard-slapping boom bap, laced with confident social realist flow, could only ever have come from New York. [Mar 2015, p.71]

Black Lips have found their way to middle age through a careful balance of punk attitude and rock'n'roll classicism. Satan's Graffiti Or God's Art? keeps that dissolute edge intact. [Jun 2017, p.24]