The bangles here right the ship. [Dec 2011, p.79]

'The Tipping Point' is typical of the album as a whole, a rush of hoe-down guitars and echo-laden drums topped off with a half-yelp of a vocal that recalls a slightly more unhinged Jack White. [July 2008, p109]

Off The Record marks a return to form. [Jun 2013, p.69]

Allo Darlin' aren't the latest in post-Kate Nash mockney complaint pop, but instead makers of music that's unapologetically twee. [July 2010, p.101]

Admirably democratic, but a few dictatorial vetoes might not have gone amiss. [Jul 2013, p.71]

They've burrowed a slick, haughty electro-pop slot between Propaganda and [Gary] Numan. [Sep 2004, p.108]

With just two original compositions, it looks as if they may be running out of steam. [Sep 2005, p.108]

Had Lofgren trusted his considerable gifts to carry these earnest songs, Mountains would've been a more satisfying album. [Aug 2023, p.34]

If the odd clunker remains ('Hostage Of Love' could be a Meatloaf out-take) Slipway Fires largely sees a return to the introspection of debut album "Up All Night."

The attitudinal posturing wears thin on "Killer" but stuttering funk, the Depeche Mode in the moshpit vibe of "Little Mamma" and a timely nod to Prince on closer "Something" all hit the spot. [Jul 2016, p.69]

Here, Beans returns to his roots. [Nov 2004, p.106]

The subject matter sits somewhere between Wagner's Götterdämmerung and Led Zep. ... Yet the sounds owes little to either as flute and mandolin lend a folk-rock ambience and John O'Hara's keyboards and Jow Parrish-James' guitar essay '70s prog tropes like they never went away. [Jun 2023, p.31]

Lyrically, it's business as usual. [Oct 2011, p.105]

A warm, subtle set of midtempo cruisers. [May 2006, p.114]

The band excel at giving fans perfectly plotted two-minute bursts of disgust and attrition, epitomised by the splendidly immature, "F*** You." [Feb 2013, p.69]

Hotel Sessions is infinitely more charming than the finished item. [Feb 2012, p.91]

Unusually for him, his 10th album sounds like a collection of Chili Peppers demos. [Feb 2009, p.82]

Too often, though, we find shaw sloshing around in cyber-soup, drunk on technology and singing existential love songs in a manner akin to Alexander Armstrong scatting with Squarepusher. [Apr 2009, p.84]

There's still a stertility to their sound on this third album, but laced with sax, treated guitars and memorable choruses, it ranks as their best. [Jun 2009, p.109]

Ready To Die was never going to match Raw Power. When you’re 65, rekindling youth’s righteous fury can sound like grouchiness or--worse--play-acting. But there are worthwhile moments, mostly when Williamson leaves space for Pop to express his vulnerability.

It all kinda works. [Jun 2013, p.73]

At their best, Orton's songs do achieve what Daybreaker sets out to achieve--a sense of watching the dawn rise, all hyper and half awake from having been up all night arguing, making love or simply conversing intensely. [Sep 2002, p.108]

It's hard, though, to be sure of such depth aid the often imprecise lyrics, gently sweet vocals resembling a semi-skimmed Jonathan Donahue, and muffled, ambient brass and sax swells. [Oct 2018, p.30]

Part inspired, part impenetrable. [Mar 2006, p.104]

There's a brooding undercurrent to their upbeat sound that echoes what darkwave scenesters like The xx are currently doing. [Nov 2010, p.90]

Much of this album sounds like its been stitched together from 4AD's finest moments. [Dec 2008, p.88]

Everything flows and nothing jars, but Craft's soft voice and often orthodox songcraft makes Blood Moon merely pretty rather than stunning. [Jul 2016, p.73]

The fact this collection of originals is inferior to 2001's Ultraglide In Black (a covers album) reveals [Mick Collins'] songwriting has never matched his energy. [Nov 2003, p.118]