Their energy is extraordinary. [May 2005, p.97]

The sonic darings of his own recordings has clearly fueled the imaginations of The Cure's Robert Smith and Beck, although the likes of Snow Patrol and Beth Orton stay closer to the originals. [Oct 2011, p.102]

The band's amiable punk-folk chunter lacks a little of its usual charm. [Oct 2013, p.74]

Best enjoyed with your brain set to simmer, it's harmlessly high-octane fun. [Dec 2007, p.119]

Her decision to forgo electric guitars on @#%&*! Smilers results in the aural equivalent of watercolour washes, lovely and tasteful but lacking presence. [July 2008, p.102]

A bell-bottomed soft-rock glaze courtesy of Greg Kurstin that gives their new songs real heft - "Bloom Baby Bloom" splits the difference between Spinal Tap and the Carpenters - but leaves some tumbling along like Elton John offcuts. [Oct 2025, p.35]

The Mexican duo aren't quite in the Jansch/Renbourne class, but they create memorable tunes full of clever variations of timbre, texture and tone. [May 2014, p.78]

While the likes of Living It Out are perfecting mutant disco, Rostron's self-consciousness means this expertly produced set suffers from too much quirkiness. [Jun 2011, p.93]

The acid-daze reveries are rich in detail, thought the baleful undertow and samey melodies lose momentum over the 22 tracks. [Apr 2002, p.113]

Rather than embracing the weight of myth and geography it simply rises above it, majestic yet frustratingly aloof. [Jun 2012, p.77]

It's a rather bloodless and oddly dated set. [Aug 2015, p.76]

We can enjoy Foxing's prophecies of impending doom, particularly when they're clothed in Animal Collective harmonies, U2 bombast and even avant-garde R&B. [Sep 2018, p.29]

A passionate but ultimately rather clean record of angst-filled ballads. [May 2023, p.27]

Public Service Broadcasting devote a concept album to the tragic aviatrix’s final voyage, this time overlaying their soundscapes not with samples but with her writings brought to life by actors. These retain our interest more than some of the music they punctuate. [Nov 2024, p.41]

So much of Eyes Open is nearly, but not quite. [Jun 2006, p.114]

Only the lovely, finger-picking folk of "Ceilings" and the pulsating "Breakers" approach the perkiness of their breakout single, "Airplanes." [Feb 2012, p.74]

“Build A Fire”, too, is an air-punching anthem, though Torquil Campbell prefers lighter-waving on “To Feel What They Feel”, which, like “If I Never See London Again”, turns to polished ’80s production techniques. They can’t shake their melancholy, however. [Sep 2022, p.32]

His vocals--as exuberant in his seventies as half a century ago. [Sep 2021, p.35]

It resembles The Boredoms in its sense of sonic bravery, although the suspicion lingers that more focus is required before they can produce another record of the calibre of 2002's "Beaches And Canyons." [May 2009, p.79]

Though Return To center has its campy moments, he's removed his tongue from his cheek. [Jul 2019, p.24]

Hotel Shampoo is a fragrant little side-project but it's a bit too sudsy to be the main event. [Mar 2010, p.96]

The pervading mood of ennui and desolation begs for some light relief, but the title track speaks volumes for her poise. [Dec 2010, p.104]

Full of hits and misses as it sways back and forth between indie and electro, never quite finding its feet. [Aug 2022, p.30]

It's diverting enough. [Apr 2009, p.82]

Not radically reinventive, then, but Vessels deserve to keep their foothold on the post-rock face. [Apr 2011, p.100]

That gloriously stupid clod-hopping mash-up formula remains. [Nov 2004, p.99]

Abstract, but curiously engaging. [Mar 2011, p.83]

Their fourth album amps up the synths-and-beats side of their new wave Scandi-rock aesthetic, with broadly positive results. [Jul 2011, p.94]