The poetry of pain is so strong, and mixed with superbly produced music that doesn’t take a nanosecond for granted.

While their LPs are again, consistently, some of the year’s best albums, it is definitely true that their EPs are no slouches either.

Although The White Wires put a fun, sunshiny spin on things, this type of music has been played out by countless bands ever since The Ramones perfected the formula in the mid-70′s. But if you're just looking for something rowdy, fast and fun for the drive to your favorite party spot, put on WWII and crank it up!

Whilst Still could certainly have benefitted from a greater cache of stronger songs (a couple of which could have been swapped-in from the largely electric self-produced Variations EP that comes with early CD editions), as a combined entity it holds together convincingly as an amiable summary of what latter-day Richard Thompson is all about.

Even if You’re Nothing lacks the raw immediacy of their debut, it sees Iceage defining the parameters of their sound.

It's as though they've found the link between tightly driven post punk and loose garage rock. Songs such as "Trouble," "Mystery Zone," and last year's single "Got Nuffin" bridge the gap between Nuggets and the Stiff Records label. This is certainly what indie rock has been based on for the past 30 years and so far only Spoon has done it with any success. As though to balance out the rock or to satisfy their interest in each end of the song writing spectrum, Transference also satisfies.

As a unit, the group amassed some of the best music of their careers onto this singular, ‘effusively sentimental,’ career.

At 21, he has the raconteur’s wit of a younger Nick Cave still buoyed by the weightlessness of possibility.

Music like this is a reward just waiting to happen and if you give it a fair shot, it will surely win you over.

Goodbye Bread is a fitting development on an impeccable path. The depth accomplished through five albums is obviously grand and it's definitely as if Segall is purely improving with every passing year.

It is easily the band’s most accomplished, interesting record, a record that will simultaneously alienate stodgy diehard “fans” and attract a new group of listeners to the band.

For those who found that record [Nouns] to be a trying listen though, it's unlikely that the duo will win them over with Everything In Between, another lean and visceral assemblage of songs that expounds on many of Nouns' most endearing qualities.

There’s no lack of stride here, in fact the entire scope of Reflektor and its magnificent way of sucking you into its entire ride is downright remarkable.

For all that is revealed about Charlotte’s experiences via the songs on this album, there is always the knowledge that Beck is the songwriter, which raises the questions of how close Charlotte is to the lyrics, and if Beck has transcribed what Charlotte described to him with minimal interference, or if his own views and ideas have shaped the finished work and altered Charlotte’s original intent.

As the result of their impassioned musicianship and disciplined songwriting, this band has always had go-to credibility; with C'mon, they've raised the bar higher still.

The easy, carefree atmosphere is extremely effective; the songs’ warmth of proximity makes each better than it would be if heard alone, resulting in an album that somehow transcends its simplicity and becomes something of remarkable beauty.

A poignant and powerful collection.

Saturnalia is easily the best album I have heard this year and will undoubtedly be included in many a year end list.

Not only is Keep it Hid a very good album but it’s an album that contrary to popular belief, should not be ignored.

Three Fact Fader is an impressive sophomore effort. Engineers have created a winning combination of English pop/rock.

Lift Your Skinny Fists… told a story, included more extremes in volume and emotion, and added vocal samples. Yanqui, thus, is more subtle, more restrained. Yet it's also more moody, more cerebral, more intense.

In effect, the group have carbon-copied the sound of The Great Eastern but neglected to paste-in an equal number of tunes.

Chock-full of catchy songs, off-kilter melodies, and A.C. Newman’s clever lyricism.

Morgan is back with Loscil's fifth album, the somber Endless Falls, his most austere and least cluttered album yet.

A ten track album sequenced as two sides, with short introductory ambient noise pieces in slots one and six, the tracks drone on long and stand tall together, creating a monolithic listening experience which feels both constantly building and already there.

The second half of the album wallows in the shadow of the first, unable to conjure the absolute majesty of the first four tracks.

Whilst The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience canon is far from consistent and most of us might not regularly play much beyond the sublime first CD/LP of this compendium, there is much to be (re)discovered here that vintage Flying Nun label fans can certainly not afford to live without. A heartily-fulfilling curate’s egg, in short.

This isn’t the same set of music each time out, no, instead it’s a sincere evolution into something that all can behold. Many would be smart to learn from this band because they’ve obviously got “it” figured out.