The result is another unique and captivating record, one that melds dancehall reggae, hip-hop, Haitian percussion and a dozen other styles as if they were always meant to be together. [Jun 2014, p.111]

The album doesn’t work for all moods or times of day. It’s a dusk-to-dawn kind of collection that emanates a lovely, flickering fire-like glow from within.

The disc is at least 20 minutes too long, with Slug coming off like he's simply recycling the same lyrical ideas in the last third of the album. [Jun 2014, p.104]

Producer Dave Bottrill has molded Chiodos’ vision into a cohesive arc of power, finesse, quirks and accessibility in equal measures.

Though the songs are certainly longer than on Floor, Oblation actually harnesses greater energy than its self-titled predecessor. It's also tighter, its melodies more confident and stable than Floor, while buzzing along with their familiar, sludgy foundation, Sleep-y, Sunn O)))-y tone and all.

Andy Stack's accompaniments are dynamic, elusive and overflowing with heart. [May 2014, p.94]

While several songs do need an editor--"Dressed In Dreams" in particular drags quite a bit--the record's honesty and vulnerability are inspiring.

The album’s 10 songs are over and done in under 20 minutes. The impression they leave at the end of it all is huge.

There’s something un-Pixielike about that tentativeness, yes, but surely this group, and these fine if uncharacteristic songs, should have the chance to re-enter pop life on their own older, wiser terms.

A slick, synthed-up, unabashed party. [May 2014, p.92]

The Menzies score big about half the time. [May 2014, p.93]

The album is a success because it shows sophistication and growth. [Apr 2014, p.94]

Their stripped-back and organic-sounding punkish indie rock recalls early Jimmy Eat World, Texas Is The Reason, the Appleseed Cast, Penfold and the Weakerthans, and this album sees them stand toe to toe with any one of those bands, which is admirable to say the least.

The entire thing is a cathartic art project that feels like the moment of forced calm after an exhausting sob. [Feb 2014, p.92]

The repurposed bits remain inspired, while Sugarhill Gang-style raping, sampled DJ interludes and duck jokes keep things refreshingly light. [May 2014, p.90]

A brilliantly sorrowful effort: for isolated immersion only. [Apr 2014, p.92]

There’s so much depth to absorb here, yet it’s also instantly rewarding, and it happens time and again on Oh, Common Life; as adventurous as the album is, there’s nary a misstep to be found.

On their 13th studio effort, the Skull Defekts have evolved into an actual rock band. [May 2014, p.94]

It's an album without pretense or misstep. [May 2014, p.88]

Doom Abuse is great, if only as a reminder of how good Blank-Wave Arcade was way, way back in 1999. [May 2014, p.91]

PUP is 10 songs of irreverent party jams for buds and their gals and their bros.

This is no-frills, passionate hardcore with a purpose. [May 2014, p.93]

Comparatively [from debut Celebrasion], About Last Night is significantly polished; the sound is brighter, and Kandel’s vocals have become smoother and more refined

This isn’t a record to slap on for kicks or to challenge the bass response of your car stereo; this is the album that makes you want to scowl under gray skies as you slog to your day job.

Though it unfortunately eschews the dynamic emotive crests and space of past efforts in favor of MO's intensely urgent intent, its results make it a completely worthy addition to an already strong alt-rock catalog. [May 2014, p.89]

Not everything hits the mark, but there's enough to delight in and offer plenty of hope for the Chiefs' future. [May 2014, p.93]

Here And Nowhere Else is Cloud Nothings' best effort yet--and that's saying something. [May 2014, p.90]

The band seem determined to be the molten missing link between Black Sabbath and Black Mountain, making Himalayan a towering triumph. [May 2014, p.88]

Few records this year will be able to compete with the heart or hooks of this one. [Apr 2014, p.89]

This is a knuckle-walking, face-punching, tooth-spitting hardcore/metal album that’ll have you looking around for things and people that could use a good kicking.

This is the future of metalcore. [Mar 2014, p.88]

Having dabbled with atmospheric black-metal elements in the past, this time out Carnifex incorporates these with more confidence while never compromising their ruthless deathcore principals. [Apr 2014, p.89]

There aren't many stronger Americans albums than Till Midnight. [Apr 2014, p.93]

At their best, the churning rhythms, swirling synth and vocals suggest Animal Collective digging through a crate of DFA Records. [Mar 2014, p.94]

The In Crowd haven't reinvented the wheel, but they've certainly made getting hit by it a little harder to dismiss. [Feb 2014, p.91]

Force Field makes good on being more than just a referential record. [Apr 2014, p.93]

The most inventive and sly pop you're likely to hear in 2014. [Apr 2014, p.90]

The Pretty Reckless seems to have tried too hard to come across as outrageous. It's got every contrived reference possible along with clips of brainwashing television sermons and sound bites recreated from cheap porn. [Apr 2014, p.93]

It’s incredible just how good Dreyer is at making you connect with his characters, and how equally good his band are at backing him up.

Hold this band close to your temporal lobe.

Their best album since BAGIA, possibly longer. [Apr 2014, p.92]

It’s a good record, to be sure, but that’s to be expected by TBS at this point: These guys are professional musicians who have sold a few million records and toured the world countless times over. Unfortunately, a “good” record just isn’t good enough anymore.

The honest emotion, varying dynamics and avoidance of cliche up the record's potency, leaving you with the sense that this is how metalcore should make you feel. [Apr 2014, p.89]

Umpteen attempts at serious lyrics topple this album right off the runway. [Apr 2014, p.91]

The band may have taken their time, but the finished product more than justifies the wait. [Mar 2014, p.89]

It’s just the right balance of heavy and light tones, a mixture that Barnett & Co. continue to perfect throughout the whole album.

It's an arc of moods and musicianship, ranging from dynamic tension, inspired cinematic tension and moments of textured finesse. [Apr 2014, p.94]

With some pop, college rock, post-punk and even shoegaze thrown in for good measure, TV en Français is the most complete We Are Scientists record. [Apr 2014, p.94]

The majority of the tracks on Tomorrow's Hits feel like they were cooked in the backyards of Laurel Canyon with ambling rhythms, the lilt of lap steel guitar and an air of stoned desperation lingering over it all like smog. [Apr 2014, p.92]

Occasionally, this style of music gives way to too much meandering or noise for the sake of it, but Nothing's melodic and encompassing LP debut is guilty of neither. [Apr 2014, p.92]

The reference points may be obvious and the sounds familiar, but Die Knowing succeeds where so many fail: in conveying emotion, engaging the listener and creating an experience. [Apr 2014, p.91]

Although the music and lyrical content are more mature, what hasn’t changed is the familiar empathetic thrill of Carabba’s songwriting.

This five-track EP has the steamy, summery sound of a Jamaican club in full riot mode.

No matter what the style or genre of the music, it’s passion that drives its power, and War Psalms is brimming with it.

Pensive and engaging, Jumping The Tracks is the quintessential headphones record that gets better with each listen. [Mar 2014, p.88]

They can take their time crafting their next move, as they've given us lots to chew on here with this dense, pleasing, and--most importantly--fully enjoyable album.

What keeps these 10 songs honest is the audible influence of another genre: shoegaze. [Mar 2014, p.92]

Skaters work best when they're not being too aggressive, letting the songs breathe while pushing the melodies out. [Mar 2014, p.94]

The tracks are teeming with intelligence, melody and some tempered anger thrown in for good measure, saving the band from being labeled as mere copycat. [Mar 2014, p.93]

What keeps this from being a cavernous frightfest is what the members of Ulver bring to the table. [Mar 2014, p.94]

Phantogram's electronics and electric guitar alchemy has simultaneously become more infectious and complex than ever before. [Mar 2014, p.93]

Too Much Information has just the right balance of depth, maturity and consistency to ensure success. [Mar 2014, p.93]

Close To The Glass resembles ice-skate carvings on a frozen lake: jagged, cold but filled with fractured, ambient beauty. [Mar 2014, p.93]

Less production allows the songs to breathe, but while the arrangements are often clever, the melodies aren't all that sticky. [Mar 2014, p.93]

With the track order shuffled entirely, it almost plays like a greatest hits album: Closer examination reveals cohesive new context for the collection, one that's more satisfying than anything we've heard from the trio before. [Mar 2014, p.88]

The sprawl of such tracks will take some listens to process, but the incentive is the band's melodic sense, undiminished from their early days, and sometimes immediately sublime. [Mar 2014, p.88]

Cult at times feels cut from the same cloth as 2007's Walking Wounded. [Mar 2014, p.87]

Sonically, it’s practically Sea Change Part II. Musical choices are almost identical—bells, swelling cinematic strings, ample harmonies--but Hansen’s voice doesn’t sound quite so sad.

Sure, sometimes the angst gets too angsty and a couple songs feel a bit like throwaways, but this is a great, memorable and oftentimes moving release from someone who sounds like she has about 20 years and 10 albums more experience than she does.

Real Hair continues down the path set by their first two records and that’s a good thing.

Too True preserves what makes Dum Dum Girls great, while pushing the band to brilliant new heights.

They’re ultimately relatable and endearing enough, even though the most jaded of listeners will still roll their eyes at the smarmy nostalgia (“Too Young To Feel This Old”) and new-era YOLO sentimentality.

Ultimately Rev proves that a hard-driving beat and a searing six-string are timeless pleasures. [Feb 2014, p.94]

This is a great album, one that carries the burden of growing up on its shoulders, but uses it for good instead of endlessly fighting against it, which punk bands need to do as they grow up.

Everything is organic, unforced and so subtly constructed that much of the time you don't so much hear the songs as feel them. Beautiful. [Feb 2014, p.91]

The two sides of their musical personality aren't in balance, but it doesn't make this album any less fun or rocking. [Feb 2014, p.92]

This collection is a tad less playful but no less catchy. [Feb 2014, p.91]

Although it sounds pristine, Youth often drifts along aimlessly, mostly because of shapeless songwriting that stresses atmosphere and sound sculpting over structure. [Jan 2014, p.95]

It's lovely stuff. [Feb 2014, p.90]

The Irish singer/songwriter demonstrates both his versatility and magnificence by wrapping his voice around 10 delicate but different songs. [Feb 2014, p.92]

[Rave Tapes is] some of the prettiest work they've recorded. [Feb 2014, p.92]

Warpaint were more consistent before this, but as a comparative misstep, Warpaint still yields an enjoyable, haunting outpouring of whispered emotional damage and spatial exploration. [Feb 2014, p.94]

Wig Out is full of so much life and melody that it stands as a refreshing alternative to the increasingly homogenous state of indie rock. [Feb 2014, p.91]

Transgender Dysphoria Blues definitely isn’t perfect, but its high points are high enough that even a fuckface like yours truly can’t ignore its flashes of brilliance.

There are little surprises on Wishful Thinking, but with that comes little letdown.

Its cleaner, more ferocious tone does this batch of songs well, pushing them back closer to their genius Nitro Records days.

It's stylish, poppy and striking from songwriting to production. [Jul 2013, p.100]

The warm spirit that emanates from this loving tribute should be more than enough to keep you cozy through the cold months ahead.

It's wonderful stuff, partly because Shearwater's renditions are lovely enough to make you want to seek out the real things, and partly because, really, does anyone need another bloody cover? [Dec 2013, p.100]

There’s no question Common Courtesy will at least partially satisfy eager fans, because if nothing else, it’s a textbook A Day To Remember record. Whether or not that’s good or bad is entirely up to you.

They're sometimes lost attempting to balance clumsy choruses with fleet fingered flash. At other moments, however they absolutely nail it. [Nov 2013, p.84]

Back To Land whispers intimately and hauntingly of both paranoia and peace. [Dec 2013, p.102]

Tres Cabrones pummels you with no-frills sludgy goodness like "City Dump" and "Stump Farmer," uncomplicated and uncompromising metal.

Skeletonwitch are in the metalhead-pleasing business, and the classicist genre fusion of Serpents Unleashed more than does the job. [Nov 2013, p.92]

Cut Copy may not hit the same cloud-bursting heights as a masterpiece like Primal Scream's Screamadelica did, but their attempt still provides devilish delights. [Dec 2013, p.94]

In the end, Antiphon feels like it should be enjoyed in one piece, preferably wearing headphones. [Dec 2013, p.98]

This EP might be a surprise to some, but it is in keeping with the puckish spirit that has underpinned the quintet's nearly 35 years together.

While The Finer Things may be fashionably late for this summer, it’ll sure as hell hold you over to the next one.