Throughout, she pulls no punches, her razor-sharp lyrics demonstrating a singular wit and vulnerability. [Dec 2020, p.35]

Barn is a stronger effort than its predecessor [2019's Colorado], with this particular lineup finding its footing. [Jan 2022, p.20]

Why You So Crazy is the sound of a group that--reasonably, at this point--discern no reason to start being anything other than themselves, and is accordingly laced with trademark Americana, stomping glam, droll boogie and the occasional addled aberration. [Feb 2019, p.26]

The group channel tasteful elements of the Grateful dead, the Allmans, Pink Floyd, Steppenwolf and CSNY in nine songs that swirl and melt into one one another, forming an album-oriented listen where dual guitars steer the ship, and nascent vocals take a back seat. [Apr 2019, p.29]

Her weakness is the occasional lapse into 12-step blandness on the big--and rather underwritten--choruses. [Mar 2014, p.69]

Art Moore conjure up some compelling scenes on their debut. [Oct 2022, p.25]

Not a disaster = almost a triumph. [Jul 2020, p.39]

There’s little to be found here that doesn’t already sound inescapably familiar, but it’s perfectly rock-solid stuff all the same. [Oct 2022, p.25]

Rich with amped-up fiddles, mandolins, accordions and harmonies, it's vibrant, hook-laden and addictive. [Aug 2015, p.77]

The result is a dynamic and punchy record that finds the band sounding comfortable yet unpredictable as they immerse themselves more in electronic sounds. [Dec 2021, p.29]

It's lo-fi ambience sometimes sound submerged, suiting a report from deep in life's wreckage. [Dec 2020, p.35]

Even if restless shape-shifting sometimes blunts strong melodic ideas, standout tracks like the epic freakout "Cosmo" and the goth-dub inner-space odyssey "Whammy" showcase a small band with big ambitions. [Aug 2024, p.39]

Understated and underestimated. [Nov 2004, p.113]

The Ethan Johns-produced follow-up sees their punky, Spectorish pop continue to evolve.[Oct 2012, p.87]

Her debut full-length retains the intimacy of those bedroom recordings [on Soundcloud] while making good on their promise, with cleaner melodies and production texture pulled from the pop, hip-hop and indie music. [Jun 2023, p.31]

Finds his laconic voice soundings more Lou Reed-like than ever. The songs, though, are classic Wynn, all psych and jangle. [Sep 2024, p.39]

The good news is that Something Shines also enriches her puritanical sonic palette with lush instrumentation, mid-song tempo shifts and free-jazz digressions. [Oct 2014, p.77]

Like all of his work, it's thoughtful, humble, introspective, funny and endlessly digressive. [Dec 2015, p.72]

The drama can recall Florence + The Machine more than their dream-pop origins, but the mood - lacerating self-doubt becoming decay-defying euphoria - is Lanterns On The Lake's own. [Aug 2023, p.33]

The expansive Pomegranate sees Parks explore a swirling, neo-psychedelic landscape, against which she sets husky, whispering vocals that can’t help but recall Mazzy Star. There’s some great, imaginative songwriting here. [Dec 2024, p.37]

Songs are largely centered on shrill, surfy guitar and all of then are built to be absorbed, affixed to undulating rhythms that ebb and flow before they eventually slip into a groove. [Dec 2015, p.78]

The album finds the 69-year-old musing on mortality and checking in on his past with poetic articulacy. [Oct 2023, p.37]

On This Is Really Going To Hurt, singer Will Taylor's characteristic black humour still cloaks the West Coast harmonies of "Everyone's A Winner," but the emotions cuts deep. [May 2021, p.27]

This is an impeccably put-together record. [Apr 2020, p.37]

There's a greater diversity of moods, tempos and instruments, supporting a more experimental mindset. [Jul 2020, p.27]

The allusive, poetic intimacy of songs and singer are enriched, while an atmospheric haze keeps the concept loose. [Sep 2019, p.34]

What might feel somewhat reheated is saved thanks to Dal Forno's poise. [Jan 2020, p.25]

Vertigo Days does not deviate far from the established Notwist formula of soft-focused indie-folk electronica, which can feel too tastefully non-committal at times. But there are vivid beauties here too. [Mar 2021, p.34]

Tracks such as "Chester" ad "Moody" deliver more than mere retro pastiche, adding dreampop haze and lightly glitched effects to the nostalgic signifiers, bathing featherlight sunset reveries in a more contemporary vaporware glow. [Apr 2021, p.25]

A satisfying, if not earth-shattering, experiment. [Jan 2016, p.73]

It’s a little stiff and metronomic in places, working more as a calling card to Hollywood than a standalone album. [Jul 2022, p.31]

The pair sparked and quickly knocked out an album that sounds years in the maturing. [Jul 2022, p.25]

Witty takes on mortality showcase Kirchen's weather-beaten country voice, but it's his six-string eloquence that warms the heart on Dylan's "It Takes A Lot To Laugh..." and the breakneck brilliance of "Hot Rod Lincoln." [Sep 2013, p.91]

“The Shame Of Love”, “Splinter” and “Mouthful Of Blood” successfully concealing Black Flag-worthy spleen behind a comforting veneer of distorted guitars, sunny Mellotron and Carpenters-compatible melodies. [Jul 2021, p.27]

The buttery groove of "Serotonin Rushes" and "Swoon" suggests F&Y are at the top of their idiosyncratic game. [May 2017, p.30]

A baggy sprawl in places, but generally rewarding. [Dec 2023, p.36]

Strikes a deft balance between hooks'n'riffs and meditative drifts. [Jul 2020, p.33]

Fastidiously complex, yes, but also capable of moments of disarming prettiness. [Oct 2022, p.23]

The ingrained instinct for grandiosity can grate, but Gahan has never sounded better, his voice bringing power, purpose and unity to a project that's previously delivered less than thew sum of its parts. [Jun 2012, p.83]

The results have fire in the belly and attitude to spare. [Jun 2014, p.78]

Occasionally tentative songs and wonky arrangements mar them here. [Dec 2001, p.117]

Tunes like Burt Bacharach's "blue On Blue" and The Young Rascals' "How Can I Be Sure" are perfect for Almond's pirouetting croon. [Oct 2017, p.23]

Grohl claims the title track set the tone for this self-produced set, which squares with its adrenalised, garage-rock push, though not its cheeky nods to Quo and ZZ Top. Variety is the byword. [Jun 2026, p.29]

Its four sides teem with microbial incident, particularly in the dense thicket of percussion from Tony Buck that undergrids the album. [Mar 2017, p.35]

Full of jingle-jangle mourning, this is a soulful, charming debut. [Jan 2025, p.39]

With Mercury Rev/Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann poking psychedelic liquorice in the fluffy sherbet of their sound, Ross and drummer David Blackwell are more like an ice-cream van sinking in marshmallow, Motorhead on the dodgems or PJ Harvey fronting the Glitterband. [Mar 2018, p.28]

Fun for all the family. [May 2020, p.28]

There's certainly a highly evocative quality to the stoned, sun-dappled soul found here. [May 2020, p.25]

Aladdin is Green's most satisfying album in awhile. [Jun 2016, p.73]

It's not pretty but it's pretty effective, with tracks like "Radiant Mountain Road," "Volume Peaks" and the frantic "Babel" quickly finding a groove and then flogging it to an entertaining death. [Jun 2016, p.69]

Dross Glop sounds a long way from Battles themselves. [Jun 2012, p.69]

The Liquid "I'm Turning Inside Out" and lyrically unsettling, Bon Iver-ish "Shine A Light On Him" are standouts in a quietly haunting set. [Aug 2016, p.83]

Offers something for everyone. [Nov 2020, p.25]

If Time Clocks stays largely true to his love of power-trio blues-rock, he adds an inventive prog seasoning to "Mind's Eye" and "Curtain Call," and his determination to keep moving forward is commendable. [Jan 2022, p.21]

Extreme Witchcraft snaps and snarls more than usual, but wit, tunes and third-degree self-awareness continue to serve the post-grunge Randy Newman well. [Feb 2022, p.28]

More of this arch British sourness next time. Please. [Oct 2012, p.86]

Setting out their stall with mannered glitch-pop and sardonic art-rock, both usually entangled. [Aug 2023, p.38]

The album finds Escovedo veering between anxiety and celebration. [Feb 2017, p.26]

It privileges technique and texture over hooks, but as a pitch to be the next Danger Mouse, Aquaria is not a bad one. [Jan 2016, p.73]

A slippery amalgam of Chicago house, Detroit techno, acid house grooves and sleazy electro-pop. Delirious fun it is too. [Jan 2025, p.32]

At first you're impressed by more robust moments such as "From Inside, Looking Out"--think Philip Glass on steroids. But further plays are to the benefit of the record's more restrained moments. [May 2019, p.37]

This time the material is vivid and freakier. [Jul 2020, p.30]

Their fourth album, self-produced and recorded in Berlin, finds the smart hooks and spiky lyrics all present and correct. [Apr 2014, p.69]

It's odd to praise a record for lacking assurance, but her avoidance of contrived resolution feels appropriate. [May 2015, p.84]

Contributions from Angel Olsen and newcomer YEBBA may be more subtle, but reveal themselves to be the real hidden diamonds. [Aug 2019, p.36]

Fortunately, they haven't forsaken their natural songwriting strengths. [Aug 2016, p.70]

There's a tense, nervous energy o songs such as "Obsession", "Our Song" and "Oversize Sweater" and surprises aplenty. [Sep 2023, p.34]

The New York threesome have just about enough tunes to pull it off. [Jun 2009, p.93]

The patchwork of Orb-like sonic tapestries and guest vocals by some uncharacteristically gnarly rock veterans is not hugely original, but still manages to engage. [Feb 2012, p.84]

Lemmy's chief inspiration is war, and this leads to some lyrically sticky moments. Generally, though, high spirits prevail. [Nov 2008, p.109]

While it frequently feels like a particularly inspired "Mighty Boosh" number, the absurd ambition, chutzpah and execution of it all is perfectly awesome. [Nov 2008, p.89]

Less obviously 'loops and samples' oriented than their previous work, Can You See The Music? neatly navigates an electronic/organic interface. [Feb 2003, p.82]

The result is a record that contains the cryptic hooks of Pavement's later work, with a pleasingly breezy '70s AOR feel. [Nov 2009, p.104]

It feels as if this album is only half the intended project. It's a strong half, fortunately. [Aug 2015, p.81]

It's not always successful, but if the thrilling likes of "Lead Sister" and "Renegade Breakdown" constitute a fresh start, we'll take it. [Nov 2020, p.28]

Mullins is a solid, occasionally platitudinous songwriter whose rustic tales don't approach the wry, wise gifts of similar artists like Johns Prine and Hiatt. [Mar 2006, p.88]

Shuffle and skip for best results. [Jan 2016, p.71]

There's a country edge to songs like "Slick Delta Queen," "Exile Rag" and the surprisingly sweet "Bridge City Rose," the latter making a nice break from the self-centred tone of "Fake Magic Angel" and the Lou Reed-bitterness of "Gold Calf Moan." [Mar 2018, p.24]

For an album that carries such a terrible air of finality, it also feels strangely transitional. [Apr 2020, p.32]

Not for everyone, but quite a party. [July 2008, p.94]

Longwave is languorous and amiable. ... The largely unchanging pace prompts yearnings for more frequent shifts from second gear, however. [May 2018, p.26]

All over the shop stylistically--but a keen handle on dynamics and narrative holds it all together. [Feb 2012, p.97]

Visceral thrills for those who like thier punk served piping hot. [Jan 2008, p.104]

Good, but the exciting notion of a genuine career left turn feels increasingly unlikely.

Rated O delivers more often than falters. [Aug 2009, p.98]

Ignoring the misstep--'O Mensageiro'--this is a pleasure. [Oct 2009, p.106]

A couple of songs could do with more melody and less of Mike McCready's spidery guitar breaks. [Dec 2002, p.132]

Four vocal tracks serve to make the LP more than a masterclass in groove-ology. [Jun 2011, p.87]

It's a facinating listen, one that feels like it could collapse at any time, but just about hangs together. [Apr 2010, p.90]

They're marching to a '90s beat, like the internet never happened and fresh tools were never invented. [Jul 2011, p.77]

Body Music has the feel of an album rushed out for the summer. [Aug 2013, p.67]

Things become more perverse with the corroded exotica of "Deer Ron" and "Leyline Ogres," though her weirdness is most becoming. [Jan 2018, p.29]

For all the overwrought sentiment, A Wave... is strangely compelling. [Jun 2026, p.35]

What it sometimes lacks in surprise, it makes up for in consistency. [Mar 2020, p.30]

An album of skippy, infectious, electronics-soaked disco rock. [Jul 2022, p.26]

A cover of Pink Floyd's 'Echoes' proves you typecast Qui at your peril. [Oct 2007, p.102]

Even at times it's over-polished, at the very least, it's super-sized. [July 2008, p.113]

Fistful Of Mercy itself is certainly Fleet of Fox, but it's also strong of cheese. [Jan 2011, p.98]