No Ripcord's Scores

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For 2,726 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 2.8 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Highest review score: 100 Island
Lowest review score: 0 Scream
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,899 out of 2726
  2. Mixed: 751 out of 2726
  3. Negative: 76 out of 2726
2726 music reviews
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    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lazaretto
    The songs that make up Lazaretto are the most diverse on a White album since Get Behind Me Satan, and even more impressively, the songs themselves could stand alongside those on Icky Thump and Consolers of the Lonely thanks to the wonderful arrangements.... Of course, Lazaretto, for all the growth it shows from Blunderbuss, could never be as good as the work that White rattled off from roughly 2000’s De Stijl to 2005’s Get Behind Me Satan.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Glass Boys
    Glass Boys is a more than worthy accomplishment from a band that has been too busy playing by their own rules and constantly rewriting what it means to be punk to care about others expectations.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Heartstrings
    The many highlights on Heartstrings suggest that the band are back on track with a bang, reminding us all of the captivating, sultry qualities that they can generate musically, something that is personified by their singer.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Are We There
    It reveals yet another side to this musician, who has continued to pull back layer after layer since she first appeared on the scene.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Black Hours
    It achieves a good and meticulously contrived balance that will continue to satisfy the Brooklyn insomniacs, but rarely does it risk doing more.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sunbathing Animal
    It’s a bit of stretch to call Parquet Courts the next trailblazers of off-center indie rock, but they sure got the rock n’ roll part down pat.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    As the Stars
    There have definitely been many bold and exciting extreme metal releases as of recent, but As The Stars is not just daring--it’s incredibly listenable, too.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fortuna
    It’s difficult to avoid making repeated comparisons to Antipodes, but despite the differences in the sounds between the two LPs, the quality and strength of them is the same.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ultima II Massage
    While few tracks rise to the level of aggression promised by its introduction, Ultima II Massage contains enough wild ideas to maintain an engaging level of oddity.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Moon Rang Like a Bell
    Despite the uncontrollable urge Hundred Waters have to cram in too much of their creative energy, they surely have the prowess to write an ornate pop record that puzzles out through well-crafted scrutiny.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ghost Stories
    On Ghost Stories, despite a near derailment, they "fly on," moving in fresh directions while keep the catharsis that gave them their audience in the first place.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Christmas Island
    It’s true that a band can only write about the same topics for so long, and it is nice to see Bonnette taking his lyrical approach in a new direction, but the lack of that intensely personal touch unfortunately makes the songs on Christmas Island far less relatable than the band's past catalogue.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sylvan Esso
    Overall, the album’s sub-40-minute runtime leaves minimal room for filler.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    To Be Kind
    The dynamic range on the album is, quite literally, startling.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Loom
    Loom becomes tiresome as it reaches its second half, and the lack of lyrical clarity, though sincere in execution, balances poorly against the powerful instrumentation.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    I Never Learn
    More so than Wounded Rhymes or Youth Novels, I Never Learn is a record for a radio-loving crowd who wouldn’t have a problem with the lack of variety in content matter or the relative sameness in sound and composition.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nikki Nack
    Sure, there aren’t quite the visceral heights that the best tracks on w h o k i l l provided, but you will not be thinking that during Nikki Nack’s best moments. Listen to the words she says, let them sink into your head.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Everyday Robots
    The result is an album that humanizes the machine and peels back a layer from Albarn's life while adding more to the music.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Get Back
    When it's done well, with diverse influences blended together, it's so easy to like if not love, and as such Get Back instantly feels like a long lost friend.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Candy for the Clowns
    Fresh with a 4th record label (Leeds-based Hatch Records), this latest coming is a dynamic, complete, and assured record, and an exhibition of how grunge music should sound in 2014.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Loom
    Loom seems to touch upon many periods within the extensive annals of indie pop, but Fear of Men put their own stamp with smart, modish pop tunes that intend to make sorrow, in the face of uncertainty, sound invigorating.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Two
    Two is a gem amongst the labyrinthine post-Cap’n Jazz projects.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Under Color of Official Right
    Under Color of Official Right is built with a steely fortitude, treating its subjects with respect and bluntness even if there’s nary a hopeful or comforting prospect to look forward to.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Salad Days
    Salad Days is a testament to love at its most selfless and pure as much as it is the fear of holding on to it.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Say Yes to Love
    Perfect Pussy constantly find new ways to stimulate that teenage bit of your brain that wants to scream and punch things and has a lot of things to say but doesn’t know how to say them.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Here and Nowhere Else
    Cloud Nothings might still be young and quite indebted to their 90’s influences, but their latest shows they’ve already mastered all the qualities of a truly great rock band and all of their contradictions: fury, angst, precision, sloppiness, catchiness and, of course, fun.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Mess
    Now seven albums deep into their career, Liars remain a lasting and distinguished presence, one that continues to question the confinement of genre and fashions their identity around a refusal to do so.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lost In the Dream
    Granduciel apparently spent hours going over and over tracks as they were developed from their demo stage into full blown band pieces, occasionally completely abandoning latter versions to return to the demos, and that was the case with album standout track An Ocean In Between The Waves-it looks like an inspired decision.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Tomorrow's Hits
    Those who love the group for their approach to melodicism and big hooks will find a lot to love about Tomorrow’s Hits, but those who still long for the group’s noisier days will only be further repelled and forced to stick with their first two albums.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    No Mythologies to Follow
    MØ might have just released the freshest, most joyful pop record of 2014 (even if we heard most of it in 2012-3).
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Take Off and Landing of Everything
    A work of faultless skill and assured sophistication, The Take Off and Landing of Everything positions Elbow as one of the most quietly ambitious and rewarding acts of our generation.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Eagulls
    With a perfect combination of loose noise and tight melody, Eagulls’ self-titled debut puts the group on the fast track to be taken seriously, even compared to peers on their third or fourth try.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Oxymoron
    Oxymoron is definitely not the game changer many thought it might be, but it's yet another very good addition to the combined Black Hippy legacy.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Atlas
    As simple and unchallenging as Atlas is, it’s undoubtedly the group’s most emotionally resonant album, both sonically and lyrically, even if Real Estate chooses to unleash them in a diminutive sigh rather than a fearsome roar.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Jumping the Tracks
    The earlier albums were hyper and hi-energy affairs whereas Jumping The Tracks is more measured and has a more constructed feel.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Morning Phase
    The wondrous sonic beauty of Morning Phase sheds light into Hansen’s otherwise absence of presence, so when the swelling, cinematic strings of Cycle open the record, it’s as if we’re surrounded by an omnipotent being coming down from the heavens.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    St. Vincent
    That’s the wonder of St. Vincent. It’s a personal album that’s well-written enough to provide something we can all identify with.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cheatahs
    Cheatahs doesn’t make any great claims of originality, and it certainly doesn’t break any new ground. It just succeeds because it is what it is.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Motivational Jumpsuit
    The weaknesses are outweighed by the strengths considerably, and so shouldn’t detract from another impressive collection; how a band can keep producing music of relative significance in such a conveyor belt fashion is truly mystifying.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Terrestrials
    What Terrestrials does reveal about Sunn O))) is their amiability, their unique potential to bring the concept of Sunn O))), if not its distinct sound, to an album that really isn’t quite their own.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Benji
    Kozelek’s sixth project under the Sun Kil Moon moniker, Benji, is his most intimate work yet, thoroughly documenting definitive moments that marked his past and continue to haunt his present.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sun Structures
    They just haven’t quite found the necessary depth to separate their clinical precision, an incredible feat considering Bagshaw concocted most of Sun Structures with bassist Tom Warmsley in his own bedroom.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Wonderland
    It’s very ambitious but also very flawed, but moreover it’s great to hear him take all these risks.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    July
    She's near the peak of their powers, if not actually at the summit.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Total Strife Forever
    While William Doyle’s career is undoubtedly on an upward trajectory and I am looking forward to his evolution as an artist, Total Strife Forever is hardly a landmark in electronic music.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Moon
    It’s beautiful background music at worst but much more if it is given the attention it deserves.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rave Tapes
    Rave Tapes is a cohesive piece of work, its perspective blended despite variance in approach.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Give the People What They Want
    If you are seeking something original then this is not it; if you are a fan of good music and your ears need their medicine, this is exactly what the doctor ordered.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cursing the Sea
    Contrary to the slipshod musicianship of their older peers, September Girls are more than competent unit that model themselves accurately with a toughened exterior, and most of the flaws arise out of its production inconsistencies; the most glaring being the distracting interchange between vocal clarity and obfuscation between tracks, and the whirring fuzz is stretched out far too thin.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Dream River
    Dream River is probably as evocative a record as Callahan has ever made, and that really is saying a great deal when considering his extensive back catalog.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    California X
    Outstanding comparisons aside, California X are certainly capable of standing on their own.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dear River
    It’s the kind of record that leaves no stone unturned and surely, during the playback sessions, a warm swell of pride must have risen from within all those involved. And rightly so.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Cupid Deluxe
    Floating gracefully, and guided by a stylish demigod of his own imagining, he glides atop the current of the zeitgeist as globalized and immediately accessible as the modern urban hub he calls home.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Night Time, My Time
    By drawing on atypical influences and wearing her disillusioned heart on her sleeve, Sky Ferreira has made the pop album of the year.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Mug Museum
    It’s a pleasant listen with some great moments herein.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Reflektor
    Reflektor hits too many high points to entirely consider it a failure, and despite its convoluted lyrical content and overreaching scope it still crosses the double album finish line with satisfactory results.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Virgins
    What it does manage to do, however, is function as an engagingly visceral work of provocation, on balance interspersing his trademark beauty with enough challenging moments to reward repeated visits, even if listening to it never exactly feels like a pleasurable experience, and maybe that’s enough.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Fetch
    An album whose imagination is fortified and enlivened by the limitlessness of punk rock and musical experimentation.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wed 21
    There’s a lot to take in throughout Wed 21’s richly layered and complex matrices, but in no way do they hinder Molina’s streak of keeping things minimal.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Old
    Old is all about developing the character of one very conflicted dude, and to me that’s its crowning achievement; it’s not his “split personalities” as much as the inner turmoils that fizz around within any complex character, but which you hardly ever hear so convincingly captured on a single record.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nothing Was the Same
    There are certainly faults here to be rectified, but this album represents yet another very good entry in his discography, not spectacular but representative of what will likely be among the best 5 hip-hop albums of 2013 along with Brown and Sweatshirt's releases.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cupid's Head
    Even through all the morass, a vague optimism seems to always seep through; he plays with our senses, waiting for that final act to pull a disappearing act that can leave one utterly spellbound.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Innocents
    The collaborations are interesting, and at times fascinating, but there is little doubt that the destiny of most tracks here will be, once again, as sonic accompaniments to visual productions.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    R Plus Seven
    Admittedly, R Plus Seven is a challenging album, one that doesn’t quite unravel itself on an immediate listen. Yet for all its complexity (of which I’m still trying to comprehend myself), it never comes off as ham-fisted or impossibly inaccessible.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Is Survived By
    Each moment on Is Survived By is a hotly tempered emotional assault that leaves no closet-bound skeleton unaccounted for an un-torched.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Mechanical Bull
    For the first time in a while, they’re moving forward with a sound truer to their nature.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Electric Lady
    Janelle Monáe has not simply lived up to our expectations here; she has shattered them, delivering a confident, creative, and enormously entertaining record that marginally betters her sublime debut.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Tales of Us
    It is a solid and dependable album, sure of its own purpose yet ready to complement those poignant moments when all that seems to be missing is a cue for the dramatic music to start.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Nobody Knows
    There’s no denying that the elements that make up Nobody knows. are profoundly captivating, from the album's rich sonic detail to Beal’s reliably powerhouse vocals and personality. But as refined as these elements are, they still don’t quite add up to make the excellent record that many of us are still waiting for Beal to finally make.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Surrounded
    Buckner’s songwriting, both in the arrangements and vocals, is laser-focused on the development and exploration of his scorched-earth aesthetic. Together, they project it with grace, refinement, and skill.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hesitation Marks
    While not his best album, Hesitation Marks shows that he has no intention to fall back on old formulas.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Body Music
    It’s well done, fun to listen to, and a damn sight better than 90% of other pop music right now, yet you couldn’t really describe it as essential.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    AM
    This is perfection from a band at the absolute top of their game, but this by no means implies that they’ve peaked.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You
    On this, her latest and most emotionally charged album, she's managed to create a painful outpouring of honesty, one that strikes that coveted balance of both melodic and lyrical expression; her message is equally powerful from each direction.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pain Is Beauty
    Chelsea Wolfe captured the essence of the album title eloquently, succeeding in making an album that is frighteningly honest, poignant, and graceful.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Carrier
    There’s still much celebration to be had in Carrier; they just channel it in a way that’s not expected of them.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Drenge
    Drenge’s debut is excellent, and it will no doubt have you appropriately ‘drenged’.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    6 Feet Beneath the Moon
    Though Out Getting Ribs already gave us little reason to underestimate him, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon holds up as the kind of statement to truly brag about--a debut that’s masterfully crafted, reasonably ambitious, and, more importantly, exists as a truly unique statement.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    To the Happy Few
    The resulting album feels fresh and contemporary--as much as any new young guitar band around today--and not at all a retro step.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Engravings
    That they somehow manage to fit together to seemingly describe an entire world makes Engravings something of a minor (key) marvel.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Crimes of Passion
    Despite being nothing original, Crimes of Passion comes off a good rehashing of the genre, making you rethink what Jesus and The Mary Chain's Just Like Honey really meant.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Where You Stand
    Interestingly enough, Where You Stand may be the first Travis record that snugs comfortably into an adult contemporary format.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Paracosm
    Even though there aren’t any forcible tracks or extreme depth to this album, it captures an experience that should be played out entirely.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Where the Heaven Are We
    Where The Heaven Are We is a solid start for B-Town’s latest export, and when considered the almost fainéant construction, there’s probably a lot more to come from this lot.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Around [EP]
    Whirr crafts their own mold out of their influences, and, with an effort that feels grand and mesmerizing as it does dreary and bleak, Around hits the nail on the head and all those long lost sentiments of not having a shoegaze band to get behind seem to dissipate.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Big Dream
    It’s more of an unconscious escape hatch that Lynch has constructed with intangible aural elements--a fantasy place that he allows us to walk around in for a while until we are forced back into the realm of the painfully awake.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    An Object
    It sounds like a labor of love through and through, and its painstaking process of development only augments a desire for something exclusive. In all accounts, your satisfaction is most certainly guaranteed.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nepenthe
    Like Grouper before her, she’s wonderful at exploring those liminal spaces, washing over and subtly overwhelming you.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Slow Focus
    If we could compare each of Fuck Button’s works some sort of dazzling spectacle, whether it be a firework display, a meteor shower, falling in love, or something of the like, than Slow Focus makes a strong case for being their most brilliant event yet.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    In a Warzone
    Most of the songs on In A Warzone are full of energy, and it’s hard not to get swept up in the slimmed down punk rock that the album delivers with gusto. However, there is definitely a point where they start to sound very similar.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Jinx
    With Jinx, we get to see a promising band push their sound outward and gracefully mature, even if it doesn’t always floor you as immediately as some of Sports’ loudest moment do.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Circumambulation
    Circumambulation practically evades any trace of sheen that was found on their two previous efforts. The differences are minimal but not predictable, lying somewhere between sludgy stoner metal and expansive, yet acute rhythmic precision; it’s their ability to never stand on solid ground that elevates their caliginous mid-tempo tunes.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Major Arcana
    You may well have to look elsewhere for music that will one day remind you of 2013, but this is still a great, brief blast of noisy, off-kilter rock; a consistent debut which sounds better each time you hear it.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sistrionix
    Yes, it’s been done before, but as much as there is to nitpick, there’s just as much to revel in.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Me Moan
    Me Moan is a challenging effort that rewards as much as it confounds, and really doesn’t bring us anywhere closer to understanding Gibson’s true guise.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Olympia
    While the music might still be a bit detached and remote, the more collaborative nature of this record does make it easier to meet half way, as does Stelmanis’ unerring sense of pop melody, and of when to drop a 4/4 beat for maximum effect.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Kveikur
    Kveikur is a strong album, one with no low-lights and an intriguing progression of sound.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    With Love
    Between the two, disc 1 is more memorable than its counterpart, but together they still form a fascinating insight into one of the foremost production talents operating on our shores today.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Long Enough to Leave
    Even if they’re slow in the uptake, and a cursory listen will only reinforce them as makeshift compositions, the tuneful nature of the album begins to flourish with repeated spins.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Long Way Down
    For Long Way Down is an album that, while often samey and, in the grand scheme of things, says next to nothing, heralds the arrival of a highly talented artist.
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