Blood & Lemonade is a good old-fashioned power-pop record bursting with rock-god guitar riffs, stacked harmonies and chugging tempos. [Oct 2014, p.96]

As with prior releaes, Woodruff's lyrics can be hokey, but his Midwestern earnestness makes it easy to let it slide. [Sep 2008, p.158]

The entire album's honeycombed with intriguing tones and gauzy grace, but the songs' elliptical shapes demand patience. The reward comes in installments, but is high yield. [Jul 2013, p.106]

The vocals occasionally become rhythmic and robotic, as if filtered through a demonic Vocoder, but there's no denying this album's rich humanity. [Nov 2008, p.158]

Haters can hurl epithets toward Drew and NSN as much as they want, but the singer's sincerity simply cannot be denied.

Sway is a noticeable sonic upgrade from SSLYBY's previous two albums, which can be somewhat off-putting at first, Still, the progression suits the quartet rather fine. [Sep 2010, p.113]

This album takes time to settle into, but once you are acclimated, it will leave you tingling. [Jan 2015, p.94]

Challenging it's not, but its low-key loveliness makes it great for dinner parties where the company is almost as cool as Mercer's pre-Port track record. [Apr 2012, p.98]

Essex Green do a fine job of staying on retro's good side. [May 2006, p.162]

Lovely and bewitching, Cipher unfolds like an elegantly written novel. [Sep 2010, p.112]

What emerges here isn't the new techno folk or even world music for the e-universe, but a rare portrait of technology with a human face. [Mar 2002, p.78]

Admittedly, Emblems begins to drag towards the end, but the album succeeds on a visceral level. [Jul 2004, p.136]

Finds the outfit in fine form, but it seems unlikely that the casual fan will fully appreciate what Everett has done with his songs here. [Apr 2006, p.214]

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

There's something for everyone on Photographing Snowflakes, and Gough's on the right path for a terrific trilogy. [Nov 2010, p.109]

Perfect major-label American alt-rock--slick, smart and serious enough without being somber to reach out to even the least emotionally confused people without scaring off the moody ones. [May 2002, p.94]

It sounds like all those summers hanging at the cottage with Lemmy Kilmister and Lars Frederiksen finally made him realize there's more than one way to blow out your vocal cords. That makes Old Crows/Young Cardinals a welcome reinvention. [Aug 2009, p.106]

Carter and Ansell aren't reinventing the wheel, but they've got a way nicer ride than most of the pretenders currently being exalted by friendless bloggers. [Aug 2012, p.84]

Mercer manages to sing behind the beat, beside it, in front of it, all while tossing out upper-division stanzas that are mostly cryptic, sometimes creepy, and occasionally sublime. [Apr 2009, p.134]

Might as well slot this Portland, Oregon, Sextet on Bonnarooo's schedule for the next decade. [Jul 1010, p.122]

The A-side sports some significant drive and heft. [Jul 2003, p.122]

Exiting Arm is another step forward in the brillant career of a group unafraid to switch it up. [June 2008, p.137]

The Singles is over too quickly. [Nov 2008, p.164]

If the vocals on Electric Sweat were produced as flawlessly as the guitars, and perhaps a different song order were arranged for a better flow, this album could be a retro-rock classic alongside other "hindsight visionaries" like the Vue or the Strokes. [May 2002, p.94]

Things reach such a fever pitch on this album that you can't help but laugh at times. [Sep 2001, p.75]

There are gems and duds, but overall this is a fine and successful experiment that'll kick-start any social gathering. [Oct 2007, p.172]

This group's self-titled album creates a warm and fuzzy slow burn akin to the glory days of weird post-rock bands like Karate, Lungfish, and Regulator Watts. [Apr 2013, p.88]

The net result sounds like a band trying--and mostly succeeding--to merge their youthful past and mature present. [Feb 2011, p.87]