DIY Magazine's Scores

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For 3,088 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 54% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 42% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 73
Highest review score: 100 Not to Disappear
Lowest review score: 20 Let It Reign
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,184 out of 3088
  2. Mixed: 891 out of 3088
  3. Negative: 13 out of 3088
3088 music reviews
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    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Punk
    With PUNK, CHAI have defied all expectations, decreeing that everybody to them is cute--and they don’t need to be.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ester
    Filtered through a dispersing wall of glistening synths and trippy haze, Ester is a sonically rich debut.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wilder Mind
    With new tools, they’ve taken liftoff from a proven formula when they really didn’t have to.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Universal High
    In digging back through music history’s treasure trove, Childhood have forged ahead into genuinely exciting new ground. They might have broken through with a bunch of other bands, but now Childhood don’t need anyone but themselves.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Omnion
    Omnion can feel somewhat familiar musically and while it’s unlikely to break the ground of earlier releases, nor does it need to--Andy Butler has carved out a unique space that he’s remained true to, with little desire for reinvention.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Blood
    There’s two sides to Blood, that much is certain, and it’s the juxtaposition of these cradling tracks with the gut punchers that really leaves you breathless for more.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Anteroom
    The Anteroom is surely How To Dress Well’s most exciting work to date; it might, in time, unfurl into his most poignant and vital, too.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone
    I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone isn’t as callow as previous Chastity Belt records, and intentionally so, fully digging up the sadness that always lay ever-dormant beneath their tinny-swigging chaos, and leaving behind biting mockery for something that feels vaguer, and also more universal.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Youthful Dream
    Haunting, intoxicating and crystal clear, the record is both sad it’s over and excited that things haven’t even begun.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Me Moan
    Because for all the added atmospherics, the album never feels overcrowded - Daughn Gibson’s haunting baritone always shines through.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Unwanted
    Leaning more into the pop-rock sound of their previous record, ‘Unwanted’ shines in its ability to produce a pop-punk anthem your ‘00s faves wish they could’ve written. Throughout, Heather holds nothing back.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Asphalt Meadows
    ‘Asphalt Meadows’ may not be a lockdown record, but it’s one that finds its voice in emerging into musical freedoms found in separation.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fever Dreams
    Here, the sonic experimentation finds his production and arrangements reaching the same imaginative heights. A thrilling and unpredictable addition to Villagers’ gleaming canon.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hug of Thunder
    The more spacious, reflective nature of some of the tracks means that each member of the band gets a chance to shine in the spotlight. But there’s also a great amount of pleasure to be had simply from searching out all of the tiny details that add even more dynamism and intrigue than usual to the album.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Heaven
    The power gained from its creation can be felt in the way the band crash their way through its nine songs, and will undoubtedly also transmit to anyone who presses play.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Return
    Katy J Pearson’s debut manage to make the oldest sound of musical heartbreak somehow seem, if not fully modern, then at least fairly timeless.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Four
    Four is better [than debut album, Silent Alarm]. Or at the very least as good.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Thing Called Divine Fits
    While Spoon and Wolf Parade fans may be mourning during the hiatus of their favourite bands, this is a tasty release in the interim.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Forever Neverland
    Yes, there’s nothing of the size or scale of ‘Lean On’, but in unapologetically treading her own path, MØ’s beginning to carve a new identity all of her own.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Unlearning
    It captures a band confident in their own identity, holding it as a badge of honour instead of something to be hidden.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Vile Child
    You’ll be hard pressed to find a better document of troubled teenagehood than Vile Child.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Brutalism
    Raging at full throttle, IDLES’ debut is as dirty as it is messy. An exhilarating escape along frenzied rhythms and powerhouse rhythms with a ferocious commentary for guidance, Brutalism is as vital as it is volatile.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Something To Tell You
    It’s as if Haim are pulling apart the production strands of their debut, and pitting them against one another. For majority of the time it works, on a surprisingly low-key second album that’s worth spending some time (or rather, Haim?) with.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Multi-Love
    By building his own synths and meeting his troubles head-on, Nielson has created a bizarre take on romance, one that for the most part breeds devastating results.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Neck of the Woods
    The final word sees Neck Of The Woods as a great alternative rock record that will hopefully spur the band onward where 'Swoon' had them treading water.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Powers
    An album which proves a bit of time off can make a huge difference, Powers sees The Futureheads fight fiercely once again.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Endless Shimmering
    The sense of optimism is infectious, and even with plenty of stiff competition for the title, The Endless Shimmering might be the year’s most exhilarating post-rock album.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Life of Pause
    Taking an unmistakable euphoria and driving it home, with Life Of Pause Wild Nothing might have planted their feet firmly on the ground, but that hasn’t stopped Jack Tatum from creating a soundscape straight from your wooziest daydream.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Welcome to Bobby's Motel
    Even when entering darker territories Pottery keep things jovial, ensuring the album rattles by with spirits high. Their characters are often down-and-out losers, badly clothed with peeling skin and no money, but when they come to ‘Bobby’s Motel’ none of that matters. Here, the scuzz is celebrated, the outside world is non-existent, and there’s always space for another body.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cut and Paste
    Moving beyond previous stand-out singles, Scheller also treads new paths, with varied results.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Galore
    Positivity has no bounds, and in Galore this London duo has successfully created a prescription for crummy moods, rain soaked commutes and even the slightest hint of misery.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Haunted Painting
    ‘Haunted Painting’ sees Sadie Dupuis finally letting go of the grief that has worried at the back of her head, processing her emotions head on in order to create work that she describes as being ‘truer’ than anything before. As a result, ‘Haunted Painting’ makes for surprisingly light relief.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fuzz
    This is a thirty-five minute blast of garage rock of the highest calibre. Consider all boxes ticked: carefree, angry, passionate, loud, relentless, and fun.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Supermodels
    It’s Claud’s willingness to inject humour and playfulness into an ultimately ambitious record that makes ‘Supermodels’ work.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Promise Everything
    A record that feels cathartic but never ruthless, freeing but still subtle.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Diviner
    Diviner is an intensely intimate album that leaves Hayden with nowhere to hide. Thankfully, stepping fully into the spotlight and laying himself bare, he’s resplendent.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nymph
    Ultimately, ‘Nymph’ is a climax – a culmination of years of experimental foreplay – that puts Shygirl on the map as one of the UK’s freshest voices. It honours the altar at which Shygirl was born, but gently trickles into an adjacent brook, to where we might see her next.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sunlit Youth
    ures might underplay institutional factors, Local Natives deliver these ideas knowingly. The beauty of Sunlit Youth is in its optimism rather than its pragmatism--a record that cements their status as one of our most special proponents of emotionally-charged guitar music.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wasteland: What Ails Our People Is Clear
    The result is a collection of biting, esoteric hymns that readily combine the earthly and the cosmic.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Imitations
    It’s a rewarding experience and probably one of the closest, most intimate listens an artist will offer this year.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It Won't Be Like This All the Time
    Their fifth album is anchored by thudding, motorik beats that create a dancier base on which James exorcises his deepest demons, and it’s an even more intense form of communication.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    + -
    Mew have always been unpredictable, and with +- they prove, once again, that it’s all for the best.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    At the Party with My Brown Friends
    Painting a tranquil image of friendship and family, at times bordering on escapist, Black Belt Eagle Scout finds both the tenderness in companionship and its fragility.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sleep Well Beast
    Aat large, the album is a quiet predator.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Marks to Prove It
    This is not a perfectly crafted album; instead, it’s an incredibly human one.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    One Breath
    One Breath is a beautiful, atmospheric triumph.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Songs
    Moments like the stripped-back vulnerability of ‘Dust’ and the lyrical mirroring of ‘The Lovers’ show Deptford Goth at his minimal best.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Apple Drop
    The music never explodes into complete madness, but rather bubbles along slowly, suggesting that the violence is mere moments away. ... Horror fans take note. This is how you create terror.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fossora
    Not an easy listen - as one might expect - but definitely a rich, rewarding one.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Star-Crossed
    ‘star-crossed’ mirrors the pain of a breakup, from turbulence through heartbreak to hope and self-acceptance. It’s here where she fully embraces Nashville storytelling. Far from spinning distant, third-person tales, each track feels incredibly personal.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mountainhead
    An album that continues the quartet’s knack for pairing potent socio-political commentary with delicious pop nous.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Blonde
    Frank’s rich sense of storytelling is still here, it’s just fragmented. But once Blonde’s ambiguity begins to piece together, it becomes something remarkable.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Heard It in a Past Life
    The record finds a way of making her atypical pop sit comfortably in the mainstream, offering something genuinely new. Coming a long way since sitting adjacent to Pharrell in the studio at NYU, Maggie Rogers has certainly found her own voice.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Room Inside the World
    Anxiety might still be rooted in Ought’s foundations, but by looking beyond it the four-piece have made their richest, greatest work yet.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    People Who Aren't There Anymore
    While there may be signs of holding back, ‘People Who Aren’t There Anymore’ still carries more than its fair share of upbeat anthems. This album isn’t much different, but why the band would ever change is a question that doesn’t need asking.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Doggerel
    Cynicism at the door, ‘Doggerel’ is an enjoyable – and exciting – listen.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Story So Far
    With The Story So Far continuing to write unapologetic good time bangers, pop punk is very much alive.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    America
    With an utterly flawless, heart-twisting vocal throughout, America spins tales of sorrow and betrayal and turns them into something exquisite.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?
    Deerhunter have often dealt in lofty, intense blows, but on album eight, they provide a breezy distraction from the chaos outside, and it’s most welcome.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bodies
    In fully embracing theatrics, their new wave leanings, and the unquestionable punk legacy, the band have landed on a sound both contemporary and unmistakably theirs.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ultimate Success Today
    This is 2020 in pained, reverb dripping sound waves. This is the isolation. This is the pandemic. This is everything. The doom may have arrived, but at least Protomartyr are back in our lives.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    English Graffiti
    The Vaccines still know how to write a direct hit--‘Handsome’, with it’s opening “oh God oh God oh God” panic attack, is still an indie-tastic thrash--but they’ve got other gears too.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Michael
    Side projects come and go, but it’s obvious that Les Sins is going to be around for some time.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Something
    Something is like a grand, multi-branched, ageing tree of 80s synth-pop, encompassing every variance of style and genre and recreating each classic movement with honour and aplomb.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Makes Me Sick Makes Me Smile
    Embracing her musical kindred spirits, ‘Makes Me Sick…’ isn’t just a rehash of her idols, it’s a natural successor.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Have You in My Wilderness
    Julia Holter always stood out as a left-field crafter of melody; this album establishes her as a unique lyric voice, too.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    At the Hotspot
    At the heart of ‘At the Hotspot’, though, is a reminder that for all of their eccentricities, Warmduscher remain a tight garage-rock outfit - just one that isn’t afraid to wander down some stylistic rabbit holes.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Chiaroscuro
    They’re always able to create something to get lost in. And, most importantly, the songs remain heartbreakingly, hauntingly beautiful.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Area 52
    Area 52 is hands down the duo's most grandiose, outlandish opus yet.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mono No Aware
    Spiraling from stripped back laments into squalling chaos with an innate dexterity, Johnny Foreigner subvert their surroundings into a place of their own making.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    How to Be a Human Being
    Their new record showcases inner madness, characters you’d cross the street to avoid, and some of the band’s smartest pop songs to date.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    War Music
    An invigorating listen that flirts with the eclecticism of their 1998 album, ‘War Music’ continues to set Refused apart from the pack.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Department of Disappearance
    As ever, there's a sonic depth here that most artists could only dream of attaining, he works melodic light and shade beautifully; perhaps never more so than on 'Hangtown', which is a veritable swoonfest.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Unraveling of Puptheband
    An enticing way to stay true to their roots, while approaching things in a fresh manner, their fourth record might still play to their self-deprecating strengths, but it also proves that they’re secretly ambitious too.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Yesterday's Gone
    Letting endless threads unravel, in vivid detail, this album might creep up on you at first, but make no mistake, its creativity and poetry will floor you.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Make Way for Love
    It’s obvious where Marlon Williams’s influences lie but he expertly melds his roots with elements of chamber pop and ‘50s heartbreak amid a sea of textures. Make Way For Love is nuanced, subtle and evocative.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Love Yes
    Come the curtain call closer of ‘Push’, it’s evident to see Love Yes serves as the most iridescent article of TEEN’s discography--a crowning jewel that’s wildly flamboyant on first impression yet deeply personal upon closer inspection.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lianne La Havas
    ‘LLH’ finds its strengths in restraint and the spirit that flits between musicians in the live setting. Her most satisfying and complete work to date.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Real Power
    ‘Real Power’ sits around the mid-tempo rather than going hell for leather as they may have done in younger years. Far from a slip into the middle of the road however, they find new ways to make it interesting.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Long Black Cars
    If this album is your first experience of Wymeswold's favourite songs, it's unlikely you will forget them. If you're a veteran, this is a good reminder of their brilliance.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Leave the Light On
    Awash with electric guitars equally as influenced by tradition as cathartic night drives, ‘Leave The Light On’ delves into the power of loneliness. Challenging the definition through both lyrics and sound, Pillow Queens deliberately play with light and heavy.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    private LIFE
    Fusing an eclectic mix of genres together, Virginia Wing’s definitive experimental style continues to be electrifyingly alluring.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Remind Me Tomorrow
    The sea change in Sharon’s personal life has given rise to a tidal wave of ambition in her music; that she has harnessed it so masterfully surely confirms her position as one of her generation’s most compelling voices.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Semper Femina
    Laura Marling crafts yet another hard-to-pin, experimental, statement. A shape-shifting artist who never pauses, the record patters quietly away in a flurry of footsteps and birdsong, as the elusive morning finally arrives.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    What Could Possibly Go Wrong
    A long time coming, the record is fully worth the wait, Dominic flexing his musical muscles in a genre-blending debut that sees him dip his toes into rap, hip hop, pop, rock, emo, and more. A sure-to-be-beloved album amongst Gen Z-ers.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Yoncalla
    For Yoncalla the band finally recorded together. You can hear it. It’s the sound of a band in room.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Home Economics
    The streets of home are always going to stir emotions but rarely does that cocktail of of loneliness and belonging get articulated with the gut-felt precision that Prinzhorn Dance School manage on their third record.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Swing Lo Magellan
    It's the sound of Dirty Projectors just being themselves and fully justifying the royalty status Longstreth and Co. now enjoy.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Stereo Mind Game
    This is all very Daughter (and very good).
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Acousmatic Sorcery
    You'll either love it or hate it but, ignore the buzz, take it on it's own merits, and you might very well be rewarded.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    MOSS
    There’s a pop sensibility never far from Maya and her collaborators (co-produced by Okkervil River’s Benjamin Lazar Davis, with credits too for bandmate Will Graefe, and fellow folky soul Christian Lee Hutson) that gives the record a well-masked determined nature, simultaneously familiar and exciting.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Are U Down?
    An impressive first outing, Spencer.’s skills as a producer and songwriter have never been more evident. Period.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Highest Point in Cliff Town
    In Highest Point In Cliff Town, Hooton Tennis Club have produced a debut that’s utterly irresistible: a summer soundtrack that makes staring out of the train window significantly less mundane; an album that restores positivity in the type of Mondays that Courtney Barnett knows oh so well.
    • 95 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Some Things Last Longer Than You
    Doe always hinted at such results from an LP, and Some Things Last Longer Than You delivers the lot and then some with devastating power and sincerity.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    No Blues
    It's one gripped with thoughts of death and yet somehow it's is the very sound of being alive. Los Campesinos! are a band who've clearly grown up, but here, that's only a good thing.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Butterfly 3000
    Full of surprising innovations, it errs constantly between confusion and brilliance.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Blood & Chemistry
    Not only ambitious, Blood & Chemistry is also invigorating.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Strapped
    Strapped is a significant step forward from their debut; far more expansive and ambitious.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Psychic
    Electronic in the loosest, most deformed sense, Psychic rips up convention from the seams to the centre.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons
    ‘The Death of Randy Fitz­sim­mons’ feels like a return to their roots; there’s a pleas­ing lack of pol­ish to the pro­duc­tion on what is a suc­ces­sion of punk rock blasts, from quick-fire bursts like ​‘Trap­door Solu­tion’ and closer ​‘Step Out of the Way’ to sus­tained sal­vos, with the bass-driv­en ​‘Count­down To Shut­down’ a case in point. There’s play­ful evid­ence of new ideas being worked in, too.
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