Austin Chronicle's Scores

Select another publication »
For 1,951 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 43% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 54% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.3 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Highest review score: 100 Wincing The Night Away
Lowest review score: 20 Luminous
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,539 out of 1951
  2. Mixed: 380 out of 1951
  3. Negative: 32 out of 1951
1951 music reviews
view
per page
    • 73 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Ride
    The Ride has Macha's dreamy, pulling, mournful feel, yet as the name Seaworthy implies, this is more blurry blue aquatic.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Larceny & Old Lace
    It doesn't flow as well as Scramble, but the Coathangers are masters of disguise, and Larceny's a straightforward punk album hiding darker feelings.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    The Photo Album
    It's a rare talent that can express such emotions so concisely; even more rare is the ability to deliver them in a near-whisper rather than a scream.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    White Chalk
    They're still about the classic Harvey tropes of repression and longing, but Chalk's fixated on death and madness, at times feeling claustrophobic in its emptiness.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Hold Time
    Yet for all the vintage analog atmosphere, the Portland, Ore., songwriter's sixth album continues to expand his Americana template with more of the classic AM pop sensibilities shown on 2006's "Post-War" and flooding last year's Zooey Deschanel collaboration, "She & Him."
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Poseidon And The Bitter Bug
    A fascinating listen on its own, Poseidon flashes back in fine fashion on how the Indigo Girls sounded two decades ago.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    We Fight Til Death
    Snippets of gothica integrated into a robust post-Cure party shake, which never come at the expense of the focused precision and attention to atmosphere and nuance the group's always had.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Cassadaga
    Cassadaga, while not exceptional in Oberst's canon, demonstrates a maturity that ensures his legacy beyond emo-folk.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    No Answer: Lower Floors
    Wolf Eyes play things a little softer, focusing more on the creep than fear.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Desperation
    While not nearly as brash or baiting as 1996 essential Popular Favorites, Yarber's junkyard boogie "Run for Cover," greaser ballad "Little War Child," and Friedl's "Woke Up in a Police Car" at least live up to that title.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    I'm with You
    Throughout, Klinghoffer never takes over like Dave Navarro did with One Hot Minute, but he's not knocking down any doors, either.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Into the Wide
    An introspective piano ballad about a lover's never-ending faith, keeps Into the Wide earthbound and proves Delta Spirit to be a band of significant depth.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Lonesome Dreams
    Ben Schneider opens himself up to collaboration, even recording with a band, but his songwriting still merits a singular interface with the listener.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    R.E.M Live
    Recorded in Dublin, 2005, the 2-CD/1-DVD set bores through nonhits but paints a vivid picture of legends in a post-9/11 world.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Apocalypse
    Above all else, Apocalypse is an album about identity and rebirth, as Callahan shuffles through a variety of guises (gardener, sailor, songwriter) and styles (the Middle Eastern-accented "Universal Applicant") in a manner not unlike Sam Beam on Iron & Wine's recent Kiss Each Other Clean.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Several Shades of Why
    Several Shades of Why is a poignant meditation on loss and where to go from here and what makes it more than just a competent confessional from a graying alt-rock icon are the sonic odds and ends.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    All Fall Down
    It's a far cry from the fighting optimism of "Sunny Came Home" but Shawn Colvin still writes with fearless honesty and genuine insight.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Control
    Control's opener "Options" is one of the saddest, most sincere songs to come down the pipe in years.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Watch the Throne
    That Jay and 'Ye have the courtesy to stop rapping about their money and start attacking real issues--black-on-black crime in "Murder to Excellence," raising children on "New Day"--is icing on a very expensive cake.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Hammer of the Witch
    The hammer comes down. Hard.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    IX
    If there's a thread connecting TOD's discography, it's cinematic ambition, a musical grandeur grounding both the post-punk of 2002's Source Tags & Codes and the lush art pop of 2005's Worlds Apart, career milestones the pair. IX evolves that tradition, though it surfaces through different channels.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Guero
    Guero isn't exactly Odelay. It's more like a photo album tracing the phases in Beck's musical career.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Fan Dance
    Fan Dance is one of those albums that needs to be absorbed to be fully enjoyed, and those who take the time are sure to find its many rewards.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Dye It Blonde
    Dye It Blonde certainly demonstrates polish over its predecessor with the leap to Fat Possum.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Ten$ion
    The devilish duo flips dubstep, EDM, and Dr. Dre's 2001-era G-funk with nary a hitch.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Cannibal Sea
    They've constructed a menagerie of animal references and escape fantasies that encompass acoustic reverie and snappy Motown-like bounce.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Superhero Brother
    With no thrills or spills on its journey through Dutton's ideologies, a now-threepiece Special Sauce (former Boss Hog keyboardist Mark Boyce's addition is official) slinks and sways on its traditionally level medium.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Out in the Light
    The frontman's voice is largely clear and earnest with grit where necessary and a dash of Neil Young's nasal falsetto, the kind of delivery just begging for a listener's impassioned sing-along.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
    Each new song is an homage to one influence or another, but the clues are so subtle, they tickle the brain in a way that causes a vague, slightly pleasant itch that's impossible to scratch.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Street Songs of Love
    Real Animal tamer Tony Visconti (Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Thin Lizzy) again harnesses Escovedo considerably more effectively than Stephen Bruton, Chris Stamey, and John Cale at a juncture in the local rocker's four-decade career when he enjoys a stable national profile. Street Songs of Love continues that instinctive trend, though profits are down.
Page: