As solid as this album is, without better hooks or more interesting guitar playing or something, I worry that Nude Beach is fated to be perpetual, inoffensive background music.

Their sophomore effort might be a touch inconsistent, but by keeping things simple and sticking to their strengths, Anderson and O’Neill make us all wish that they don’t take so long putting out album number three.

The record is filled with solid, sunny pop melodies.

Ultimately, Cheek to Cheek is pleasant through and through. It’s not the greatest standards duets album ever recorded, but nor is it a dud.

Argos continues to be funny and charming, and the band has plenty of hooks. At the same time, the new record doesn't quite have the character of previous releases, and with the many superficial connections to the start of the band's career, it puts itself in a tough position. Art Brut still gives us plenty of reasons to rock out, but this album doesn't leave enough of its own mark.

Isn’t It Now? summarizes some of their best attributes. It also shines a harsh light on their self-circumscribed limits.

Where Wolf's songs are sometimes the victim of excess, Vek leaves one struggling to discern what ingredient his songs are missing.

The music itself is far from nondescript, and if judged from this angle, and on its terms, Requiem is a flawed, unique, and immersive experience.

There are moments when they seem to lose sight of what it is exactly that makes them so interesting to begin with, writing songs that seem stuck halfway between dance and conventional indie rock.

If this release is David Gray's self-loathing moment of pure, unabashed misery, that's OK. Besides, where would all of that appeal go if he ever decided to get happy?

Of course, most of the songs by these artists are fun and silly more often than serious.

Wise Ol’ Man won’t go down as one of the essential puzzle pieces to the story of the Fall, but it at least boasts a killer title cut.

Overall, the effect of the album is mostly jarring. Gusty, but jarring.

Even if Joanne fails to connect with you emotionally, it’s nonetheless the album that will make fans and observers once again rethink what they know about the daring diva. Make no mistake: even with all her extracurricular endeavors paying off cultural dividends, Gaga’s greatest achievement is yet to come, and Joanne, flaws and all, feels like the necessary step to get there.

Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing, will certainly gain Urban new fans with its safety net of sweet ballads and radio-friendly songs, yet the album still affords him the ability to have a little fun and take a few risks on a number of the tracks.

One of the issues with Euphoria is that it’s very pretty, almost oppressively so. The beats and the synths are rounded and smooth like baby-proofing edge guards. The vocals are fetching, as Georgia has a delightful voice. However, she has chosen to sing most of these songs in a demure, modest delivery. So, even though the title promises euphoria, it rarely reaches that high of a peak.

hose unfamiliar with the works of Kylesa would be better off to experience the full-force of their psych and sludge collision--as heard on the band's later studio albums--and leave From the Vaults, Vol.1 resting in the hands of the curious and the completist.

Yes, Forever is mostly redundant. But if that’s the only thing you have to say about it, then that’s a little unfortunate.

It may be churlish to criticise Miller for proving and expanding his range, but anyone expecting another superior, overdriven, psych cacophony will be disappointed.

Great Lake Swimmers’ pleasures are deceptively simple, but one can’t help but get held up by the tactile surfaces of their elaborate simulacrum of shamanistic folk.

As a Madchester revival album, Best Behavior is, without a doubt, successful. It drips with reverb. The production is immaculate and the kaleidoscope arrangements loop and morph in vivid technicolor... However, like most drug-inspired music, it often feels unfocused, and ... rather samey here, track to track.

It turns out the emotions here are real, but conveyed through a deeply (and cleverly) contrived performance.

WhoMadeWho could still hit on their defining, transcendent moment if they embraced their restless spirit instead of skirting around it.

It’s the sort of album that might not work all the time, but fits excellently to certain moments.

E·MO·TION is still a very pleasing album if not just a shade overambitious, clearly trying too hard to make the same genius pop moments that Kiss churned them out with effortless flair.

If this record had been 50% weirder or 50% folkier, it would have been 100% better. It's not a bad album, and some of the pieces are stately and beautiful, but once the smell of lost potential reaches your nostrils, it's hard to focus on anything else.

Songs of Mass Destruction is likely to resonate with those who recognize the unique quality of Lennox’s work and there is enough of high artistic value here to allow the album to serve as another guarantee of Lennox’s fine legacy, even if the spectacular musical moments are scattered around a bit more than on previous efforts.

So Saturdays=Youth isn’t an unqualified success, and probably won’t be as warmly welcomed by fans as M83’s previous albums have been. Still, there are plenty of moments on the disc that remind you why this pulsing, layered music is so powerful.