Replica feels less dreamy, more disquieting. [Dec 2011, p.92]

If a few tracks see them flirt with Eno-esque avant garde, thes wayward tendencies are balanced out by pretty folk ballads. [June 2008, p.88]

Flowers is occasionally emotional, but really, Kinsella is all about an off-the-cuff approach. [Jul 2009, p.90]

Too many tracks wrap mildly neurotic musings in self-consciously quirky, deadeningly tasteful, grown-up indie-pop crooning. [Aug 2017, p.25]

New Clouds is at once both denser and groovier. [Nov 2009, p.113]

The album stands or falls by the seductiveness of its atmospheres and the memorability of its hooks--and here, it must be said, Release fails to imprint itself, leaving an impression mainly of dejected weariness. [May 2002, p.95]

On disc the effect can be bludgeoning--although you can hear that onstage it must make for a wild night out. [Mar 2017, p.26]

Some old punk hands (notably erstwhile Black Flag guitarist Dez Caden) conjure up some acceptable punk bubblegum. [Dec 2011, p.90]

It's a blend of the mostly throwaway and occasionally essential. [Dec 2012, p.71]

An album which is a little too anodyne, but redeemed by an engagingly human warmth and unforced sincerity. [Jan 2013, p.83]

If 2005's "Z" flirted with cautiously with funk synths and a more direct pop sound, Evil Urges makes it a full-blown, messy tryst.

Mick Barr's guitar work is hugely impressive, apparently concerned with documenting an infinite number of riffs, but the length of the compositions--often around 12 minutes--rather test the limits of endurance. [Aug 2011, p.90]

Some odd production choices slightly blunt the impact of straighter rockers like "Piss Pisstoferson," but "Onions Make The Milk Taste Bad" confirms their skill for combining the heavy, the catchy and deliriously strange. [Nov 2014, p.77]

His first album in 14 years sounds more like a Ronnie Barker pastiche, constantly playing for laughs and often reworking the calypso rhythms of "Annie I'm Not Your Daddy." [Nov 2011, p.89]

Howard Devoto's arch art-rockers deliver a fresh set of oddball studies. [Dec 2011, p.90]

Just prepare for a Rogue Wave deluge. [June 2008, p.102]

The beauty of those opening moments suggests that Condon's future really does lie in soundtracks, where you can imagine him collaborating with and finding inspiration in the baroque visual inventions of an Anderson or a Gondry, and where his restless musical wandererings might yet chance upon the truly undiscovered countries of the imagination.

Revels in its own thudding nastiness but brings few new ideas to the table. [Dec 2004, p.138]

The once robust voice is thinner but still gruffly effective. [Oct 2020, p.39]

Their drowsy lullabies and minor-key melodies are now so commonplace... that much of it seems unremarkable. [Dec 2005, p.109]

As ever with Canadian German duo King Khan & BBQ Show, this offers little in the way of subtlety and a lot in the way of entertainment. [Dec 2009, p. 100]

Despite Wolf's best efforts, he's not built for homely pleasures--and you sense his need for drama straining at the leash. [Jun 2011, p.103]

The pace and register of the record seldom alter: the soundscape is always more baked earth than lush foliage. [May 2005, p.103]

Trick is the Bloc Party singer's comedown record: confessional, emotional and, in places, a bit much. [Nov 2014, p.76]

Where earlier material flowed freely, here his fiddly funk and plastic grooves contrive a kind of new-age electro that at times is suave and smooth but rarely settles into anything satisfying; as much as they exude a sense of wellness. [Aug 2022, p.23]

Phantom Limb mine a solid seam of Southern soul, rock, country, and gospel. [Mar 2012, p.97]

A solid set of songs. [May 2015, p.81]

Afropop sparkle to jazzy bounce and shoe gaze shimmer, but too often these exotic ingredients feel like undigested dilettante dabblings. [May 2013, p.74]