There are reasons to cheer aside from survival--cultish single "Open Fire," "Mighty Wings" and the Rush-like title track. [Jul 2015, p.73]

After reaching for Bowie-esque grandeur on the opening "Song For Agnes," they lock into an INXS-style chromium-funk groove on "America's Cup" and reimagine The Clash as a synth-punk band on the speed-burner "Human Touch." [Nov 2021, p.32]

Metz's latest combines the Jesus Lizard's Goat-era aggression with PiL's Album-era rigour. [May 2024, p.38]

Their mission sounds increasingly convincing. [May 2007, p.87]

It's Macve's self-assurance and rounded expression that impress- that and her voice, a Lustrous and powerful instrument with a yodelling swoop that she wisely never overworks. [Apr 2017, p.32]

Peachy-keen harmonies, pop smarts and salacious detail make a simple but effective combination. [Apr 2016, p.78]

As imaginative as his guitar playing can be, Auerbach's vocals can be limited. ... And yet, Auerbach's obvious affections for these touchstones, and for these performers, more than make up for such shortcomings. [Jul 2017, p.34]

They keep everything buoyant, even when the songs aren't so strong. .... A more psychedelic take on "Found A Job" is the pick of the alternative versions, while an August 1978 live set from new ork's Emtermedia Theater is reliably invigorating, if not quite as vital as the CBGB stand unearthed for the Talking Heads: 77 box. [Sep 2025, p.50]

Often, the more oblique voices speak loudest from Manchester Mekons' pop-prog punk collectivism, through Durutti Column's moist-eyed melancholy, World Of Twist's epic pop oddness, to classic British hip-hop from Ruthless Rap Assassins. [Sep 2017, p.53]

There's less emphasis on programmed beats and samples and a greater dependence on live instrumentation. [Apr 2005, p.114]

Schnauss' trademark keyboard washes are a significant feature, at times helping stimulate euphoria beneath often gauzy melancholia, elsewhere adding a soothing Pink Floyd-ish balm. [Sep 2014, p.73]

It secures Midlake's future with small yet significant shifts that haven't erased their identity. Not deeper waters, necessarily - but running clearer and on a newly energised course. [Apr 2022, p.22]

It comprise four lengthy tracks, from the wood-wind-assisted Led Zep-sized rocker "This One's For The Human" to the one chord motorik Krautrock of "The Visitations." Best of all is "The Moon IS Not Your Friend," in which a McCartney-styled guilty pleasure is bookended by terrifying space-age FX. [Jan 2018, p.17]

It's four-square Manics Big Music, with James Dean Bradfield's guitar especially eloquent, echoing Keith Levene's sour whine on the title track and beautifully relaxed on "Being Baptised"'s Smith-like elegy. [Feb 2025, p.37]

The departure of bassist Alanna McArdle to front Welsh noiseniks Joanna Gruesome doesn't seem to have dented the band's bruised vitality and pleasing lyrical spikiness. [Apr 2015, p.75]

Liz Harris's 10th album continues her slow ascent out of the appealingly murky haze of her early releases towards structured, if still frail, songwriting. [Jun 2018, p.28]

Restraint is the key, the luminous harmonies of Rachel and Becky Unthank, backed by Adrian McNally's minimal piano and the discreet textures of violinist Niopha Keegan, spotlighting the wistful poignancy at the heart of these delicate compositions. [Jul 2017, p.40]

Big Thief are at their best when the instruments step back and create a mellower platform from which Lenker can dominate. [Jul 2016, p.69]

Marking youthful reminiscence and the passage of time, WWW rocks with gleeful, guitar-driven, singsong abandon. [May 2016, p.78]

Evil Heat doesn't exactly break new ground and often amounts to, strictly speaking, little more than pastiche. [Aug 2002, p.104]

A take on "White Cat" from 2017's Plum is strung out to 20-odd minutes. ... Elsewhere they approach their back catalogue with a sense of blissed-out spaciousness. [Nov 2022, p.38]

Will prove a delight to punters pursuing a Best Madchester Compilation Ever! as long as they forget The Stone Roses ever existed, and assume Morrissey came from another planet. [May 2002, p.116]

All their songs unfurl slowly, gracefully... and some might say a little laboriously. Luckily, singer Jamie Lee has a voice that can just about carry his lofty lyrical themes. [Sep 2013, p.92]

While Fuzz II has some absolute stormers, some of the proto-metal songs are a little too ponderous to really click. [Nov 2015, p.76]

There's no flash and no trash, just reflective, ripe, minor-key ruminations, plenty of melodically burnished guitar playing and Knopfler's voice, which has crusted nicely with age to take on a warm, rich burr. Classy. [Dec 2018, p.27]

Landfall is an electro-acoustic patchwork of mostly short, mournful, quietly lovely mood pieces. [Mar 2018, p.22]

To their credit the quartet's swaggering garage rock, stuffed with grit and glam, has a certain edge, largely due to frontman mark Saunders' Welsh-accented sneer. [Apr 2016, p.81]

It's strong but uneven. [Apr 2015, p.71]