Coombes and Goffey undoubtedly had fun romping through "Queen Bitch," or tackling "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)" in the style of The Zombie, but you'll never play this album more than once. [Apr 2010, p.91]

Only the most devoted Apple Scruff could truly love Extra Texture, or its two immediate predecessors, now. Wonderwall Music, however, documents an innocent optimism that will always be worth a listen.

Although there are no gaffes here, neither is there much to mark it out from their first. [Jul 2017, p.36]

Merritt's pure voice is mostly accompanied by gentle piano on a set of songs that ultimately lack the fire of her earlier work. [June 2008, p.100]

Influenced by visual artist John Baldessari, Pure Beauty explores strange sonic vistas. [Apr 2018, p.35]

If you wish The Hold Steady didn't look so clean, this is the band for you. [Aug 2008, p.113]

By turns oblique, soulful, scornful yet rarely dissonant. Rather, it's one of their lovelier, more formal offerings. [Mar 2005, p.108]

For newcomers, Is It The Sea? offers a neat summation of Oldham’s quiet industry, while it may just mark the turning point from his darker years.

It finds her singing in an appealing vibrato somewhere between Dolly Parton and Stevie Nicks. Her Aesthetic, though, is a million miles from the lacquered gloss of either as she delivers her lyrics of desperate melancholia over a raw, all-hope-is-gone sound which conjures the emotional brutality of Tonight's The Night. [Feb 2011, p.99]

The retro flavours are only one strand of an alert, impressive collaboration. [Dec 2011, p.104]

The songwriting is always of a high quality. [Mar 2012, p.79]

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]

Rhubarb Rhubarb is scuzzy but smart, surging between primitive playfulness and something more malevolent. [Dec 2014, p.83]

Even if several songs see them veer too close to conventional power balladry or Joy Division karaoke, Holy Esque are mostly wise to favour the first part of the time-honoured go-big-or-go-home strategy. [Apr 2016, p.74]

Not quite the rebirth it might have been, but a welcome retread. [Jun 2016, p.73]

There's an appealing disjuncture at the heart of this collaboration. [Dec 2016, p.32]

Aged 85 and in grave health, Scott's superlative countertenor was weakening, but his expressive gifts are unerring. [Mar 2017, p.39]

Much of this is rather pedestrian ska with blandly topical lyrics referencing populism, social media and hashtags. However, "Remember Me" winds and grinds appealingly. [Nov 2017, p.36]

Wonky charmer of a third album. [Apr 2022, p.31]

It's hard to shake the feeling that this return to decay-drenched digital rock is the sound of Reznor playing to the gallery. [Jun 2005, p.97]

Hyperdrama boasts the same kind of air-punching swagger and imaginative ambition that made Random Access Memories so inescapable. It also benefits from a similarly formidable guestlist. [Jul 2024, p.35]

Circular Sounds is a collection of snappy, mildly psychedelic, instantly memorable songs, delivered with an unfussy and becoming modesty.

This Chicago quartet have refined the psychedelic, gothic post-punk racket of their 2018 debut into punchier, more memorable songs. [Oct 2020, p.31]

The theme of lost innocence is ideal for the sad sweetness of Conor Deasy’s voice, which has never sounded better than on 'This Year,' a rush of noise which restores the busked immediacy of their debut.

Travis continue to subtly experiment with their sound, and on this 10th studio set it regularly pays dividends. [Aug 2024, p.40]

If you find it impressive how AC/DC have spun three chords into a 30-year career, then you'll enjoy what they can do with a boxset: Backtracks comes with three CDs, two DVDs, all packaged inside a recession-friendly amplifier. [Jan 2010, p. 103]

Lollipop is their 13th Studio album, and one of their best. [Jun 2011, p.91]

All the usual Madness fixtures are present--the jaunty ska-meets-Motown rhythms, the tricksy chromatic chord changes, the well-crafted narratives. What much of the album lacks is any kind of heart. [Dec 2016, p.32]