Austin Chronicle's Scores

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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
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    • 75 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Lola
    "Si No Te Vas" sounds exactly as if Rodriguez was in a callejón serenading her lover even with the hint of gringo in her Rs. Picking up Spanish as an adult can cause that, yet it lends the music an authentic border feel, the bridge between worlds. Therein lies the cohesiveness between old and new that makes Lola a love affair worth taking home and introducing to la familia.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Perfect
    Nasal delivery and residual skronk aside, the album's themes of abiding love and perseverance skirt the realm of universality.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Jet Plane And Oxbow
    The locals' strength remains in crafting massive soundscapes, from the onslaught of guitar and electronic quips on "Radio Silence" to the balladic stillness of "Only Child." Meiburg's agenda isn't political. It's sonic.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    The Ghosts of Highway 20
    The Ghosts of Highway 20 finds Lucinda Williams bending Americana with jazz phrasing, lush grooves, and unrestrained spirit.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    The Complete Matrix Tapes [Box Set]
    Cultists are now treated to the best-recorded live VU documentation ever.
    • 99 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965-1966
    The 6-disc set witnesses the studio process as it unfolded 50 years ago, particularly the CD unfolding the complete session for "Like a Rolling Stone."... Experience history in real time.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    The Ties That Bind: The River Collection [Box Set]
    Bruce Springsteen's fifth release proved a cardinal development in his storytelling, and The Ties That Bind: The River Collection dissects it across four CDs, a 2-DVD concert from the same year in Arizona, and an hourlong documentary on a third DVD, plus over 200 coffee-table-ready photos.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    The Loneliest Man I Ever Met
    The Loneliest Man I Ever Met refuses to be overshadowed by Kinky Friedman's outsized personality.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    MCIII
    Missing the shambolic charm of Cronin's earlier work, MCIII nevertheless guarantees bigger stages.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    What For?
    The chillwave connoisseur thus delivers according to expectations, creating a short, bubbly experience fit for a fest.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Bad News Boys
    Gonzo garage maniacs King Khan & BBQ Show offer the aural equivalent to a drunken hook-up: short, weird, messy.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    The Color Before the Sun
    Pop rock rather than space prog, The Color Before the Sun is akin to his beloved Rush's permanent wave goodbye to fantasy epics in favor of radio-friendly AOR.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Every Open Eye
    The Glasgow threepiece has figured out what works: in this case, catchy funk-pop ("High Enough to Carry You Over") that threatens the radio friendliness of Bruno Mars, and nods to early Depeche Mode.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Foil Deer
    Massachusetts outfit Speedy Ortiz's sophomore album is a biting, brooding affair: a Nineties feminist soundscape stippled with dissonance often verging on sinister, and wielding brainy guitar lines and lyrics.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    II
    Commencing the hourlong disc is brazen seven-minute opener "Time Collapse," its stoner psychedelia mash enduring throughout 14 tracks.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    B4.DA.$$
    A nimble, melodic wordsmith, Bada$$ casts his effortless flow over a loose collection of jazz and boom-bap backdrops.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    VEGA INTL. Night School
    The 51-minute groove compilation emulates late-night VH1 on a heavy dose of synth and a sprinkle of Eighties pop.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Uncovered
    Uncovered, the longtime local's second covers album, both respects its material's wellsprings and celebrates them through a different, and at times unrecognizable, lens.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Silver Season
    Last year Sturgill Simpson combined psychedelia and country music to great success. Israel Nash takes that idea to a tangential place, with results equally successful yet more likely attuned to those who reject anything with a twang.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Panhandle Rambler
    Joe Ely brings the desolation of Texas plains to life in a manner that's profoundly inspired.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Servant of Love
    Servant of Love is anything but standard. Griffin deftly experiments with Arabic-style guitar-picking and eerie, chanting vocals on the stark and political "Good and Gone."
    • 80 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    DS2
    Dirty Sprite 2, Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn's third album, is his most epicurean work yet.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Too
    Fidlar goes balls to the wall.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Strangers to Ourselves
    Limited variety and specks of staleness can't ground the high points.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
    Third LP How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful dispenses with that ethos [positivity on the aftermath of heartbreak], embracing the raging/wallowing period that's delivered through biblical and Greek mythological references.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Strange Trails
    "Fool for Love" wouldn't have survived the twisting soundscapes of the frontman's initial EP, but it offers the same sweeping vistas.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Vestiges & Claws
    González gently expands his borders without abandoning the center.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Ivy Tripp
    Cat Power for the next generation.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Sound & Color
    Sophomore triumph Sound & Color aims higher.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Thunderbitch
    The eponymous debut is pure punk.
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