This is classic, turn-of-the-century-style emo for those old enough to remember the scene before the eyeliner an hairspray brigade came along and spoiled it all for everyone. [Mar 2013, p.98]

A little sluggish and generic in places, these churning incantations never quite combust like they should. [Oct 2014, p.90]

Her heart is laid bare in a manner that just manages to avoid becoming cloying.

From the manically undistinguished soloing of The Tempter Push to the leaden progressions of Walk Alone, it is uniquely generic, extraordinarily ordinary.

There's a DIY feel and bouts of slacker tomfoolery to Varshons 2. [Mar 2019, p.88]

Sprightly mid-life Americana. [Jun 2019, p.89]

While nobody would mistake it for the work of a man who's trying too hard, it's not without its charms. [Sep 2020, p.87]

This is certainly a dead weird album; it may improve with time.

The more abiding feeling we're left with, though, is that high-octane hard pop like this needs just a few more piercing hooks to really raise The Dirty Nil above all the other generic good-time rockers that will give you a fun half-hour in a festival tent but rarely capture your imagination. [Feb 2021, p.84]

Cool Planet is a messy indie sprawl for the patient faithful. [Aug 2014, p. 204]

For all the loving homages to past recording techniques, they sound laboured and bored. [May 2013, p.84]

Vaselines fans will not be disappointed or surprised by these tunes. [Oct 2014, p.91]

What's missing is just a little more "WTF?" [Sep 2013, p.90]

Resolute if hardly revolutionary form. [Jun 2015, p.96]

The song titles may be a little lacking this time round (although The Sordid Soliloquy Of Sawborg Destructo makes up for it), but The Blood of Gods is more of the same monstrous bilge.

There awaits a winning collaboration between band and singer, but this isn't it. [Feb 2022, p.79]

It's rock'n'roll for aging urchins who don't know how to quit. [Apr 2015, p.98]

Papa Roach's not entirely convincing attempt to music in on the action. [Feb 2019, p.88]

Noise & Romance offers a much more disjointed, disorienting and unpolished experience. [May 2019, p.84]

A hit-and-miss affair padded out with too many Fred Durst-style shouty tantrums. [Apr 20202, p.88]

Each song title is followed by a reference to specific verses from the Bible that have spurred Anderson into lyrical action. The connection is not always easy to make, and sometimes you’re better off just going with his words, although they can take some unravelling at times. But that’s all part of the plan.

'Zingers exhibit a whole lotta heart. But sometimes heart alone's not enough. [Dec 2023, p.79]

The band's sixth album is another uneven mix, but with enough fresh twists and smart cameos to save it from redundancy. [Jun 2015, p.90]

Plodding, overwrought gospel epics like Shine and Tempted are the order of the day, pale passionless shadows of the Mode’s mighty, desperate Condemnation.... Things improve on the starker latter half.

The worst thing is, for all the nauseating country-rock-lite choruses, this is agonisingly catchy. [Summer 2013, p.89]

[The album] runs from garage rock to impressive reggae-tinged fuzzstompers. [Sep 2013, p.93]

Anyone not expecting a retread of his former glories will find enough here to enjoy. [Summer 2018, p.90]

The winners prove to be the moments where the participants hold back on the bombast to groove. ... Alas, Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground suffers from heavy-handedness, a fate that awaits I Just Want To Make Love To You. Not quite a harvest for the world but no spoilt crops either.