Softening their sound hasn't led to more fans, but to a blander, weaker and unsatisfying sound.

They're already halfway to being the world's best My Bloody Valentine cover band.

I don't think it would be a stretch to say The Men were picking up where The Replacements left off.

And Never Ending Nights may be Willner's most fully realized expression in an already impressive body of work.

Rhyton simply play their music, unfettered by the constraints of tradition, structure or expectation, and it's that quality that makes their album such a thrilling experience.

The richest, most dynamic album to the legend's name in decades.

It is, quite frankly, tedious and utterly un-inspiring, lacking any serious ability to convey the emotive forces which I would hope drove the song writing processes. [Review of UK release The Future Is Medieval]

Overall, this album contains some of the most original and hypnotically brilliant rock music ever recorded.

Flash-forward to two years later and we get One Second of Love, which finds Gonzalez maturing into a graceful songstress without entirely abandoning what inspired her in the first place.

On The Slideshow Effect, Memoryhouse strips away the full production, lets the vocals rise to the front, and lets their songs do the talking. The bold choice exposes their weaknesses, but Memoryhouse still has plenty to be proud of.

The album as a whole has that feel; it's perfect late night or Sunday morning music, though this might damage its broader appeal.

Despite minor quibbles what you have here is one hell of a late-night record, with plenty of wistful longing and just enough sunshine to keep you off the suicide hotline.

While it can feel like juvenilia, it's in a very endearing way, a catalogue of the catharsis of a high-school misfit.

The main issue with Mr. M is that, while it's beautiful on the surface, it doesn't really go anywhere.

Schnauss' sheen unifies it as, bare minimum, a pleasant journey through the haze. Just don't expect to see anything too clearly.

It's curious how much of the content in here could bring back what is fast becoming an increasingly extinct way of emoting--the fact that it feels this intimate should be something to be thankful for.

Screws Get Loose, is wonderfully tight and Those Darlins' latest succeeds with catchy, country tinged rock-and-roll with a healthy dose of humor.

There are some truly great moments here where the band crash around making glorious, daft, noisy pop music, but they stand at a stark counterpoint with the cloying experimental tendencies Barnes forces through.

The album sounds familiar far too quickly. [But] when Interstellar hits, however, it hits hard.

While standards are generally high on the record's first half, it feels like three EPs have been welded together to form Melt.

Most of the time it's a joy to listen to.

The album is at its most successful when Lanegan allows these alien textures [electronics, atmospheric guitar] to take a more prominent role in his songs, providing a counterfoil to his gravelly rock vocals. Elsewhere the songs meander too much for the album to coalesce into a convincing statement.

This is by and large a record that moves at its own pace, and a calm one at that.

It gets a bit boring, a bit sleepy, and altogether, it's a bit forgettable.... But, you know? It sounds good doing it. That has to count for something.

Plumb feels unsure of how ambitious it wants to be, but instead of landing in the middle of the road, the lack of focus and uncertainty create an incoherent mess.

Young & Old is a more mature release which demonstrates that Tennis possess both the wisdom and guile to evolve.

Tramp isn't as seizing as Epic, its songs aren't as dense and unalike, its textures don't diverge in the same methods, but it breathes more, it quivers more, it shakes, it overturns itself, it rusts.

There may be some great ideas on here amongst the mis-steps, but without any suspense, it is difficult to tell.