Punknews.org (Staff)'s Scores

  • Music
For 508 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 61% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 35% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.3 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 75
Highest review score: 100 The Center Won't Hold
Lowest review score: 10 Just Like You
Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 11 out of 508
508 music reviews
    • 90 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    They had a pop-punk grit and an edgier take on their 2012 release but The Finer Things just falls short of the potential that State Champs should be exploiting by now.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Back On Top isn't a bad listen but it falls short of that benchmark they set in the past.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    All in all, it's an accessible ride and if this is your first rodeo with them, then Imbue isn't such a bad jumping-on point. However, it doesn't hold up to the young days where The Early November were immature mavericks letting loose.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    On this particular album, they achieve just the right amount of flair and flavour to spice things up with character and believe it or not, lyrical depth. Track-wise, there are some growers. Then you've got some tedious chores to work through mid-way but overall, the album ends on a fairly decent note.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    I think the punk rock attitude is to not easily be impressed with technical musicianship that doesn’t make you feel much of anything. American Head didn’t hit me in the heart or in the gut, but it did make me want to go back and listen to “She Don’t Use Jelly” again and, if nothing else, that’s a positive that comes from this experience.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The tracks that hit really save this album but those that miss, really leave a bad taste. Still, Citizen does just enough to get the benefit of the doubt.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Not a bad album but one that requires a few more listens, personally, to really feel captivated. The band seems to be going through the motions here and it doesn't stick as much.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Overall, the album isn't a bad listen. Symphonic. Orchestral. But compared to the last outing, it's lacking.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    I did enjoy hearing Jetty Bones' cooing voice on "Icicles (Morning Glow)" but other than that there aren't that many songs to phone home about. There aren't even rock ballads a la "Minnesota" and while the closer "Hallmark" tries to mix aggression with toned-down indie licks to somewhat appeal to folks like me, it's just not the impact I expected from the band this time around.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Much like peer Frankie Cosmos, the sugarcoated uneasiness works, especially when done well. Swear I’m Good At This is a solid debut.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Overall, not as diverse a record so points lost there, but definitely a move that gives this new iteration much more character.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ultimately, it's not a bad album, but not the greatest either.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    When it tries, it succeeds but when it doesn't, it really crashes into the ground face first.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    These are songs about everyday life at its most basic level. You'll have to decide for yourself whether that's enough.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    While some of it lacks creativity, expression, and comes off a tad bland, you do get a sense of what could have been, had they just unchained themselves a bit more. Ironically, the songs that stand out the most here are the ones that ape tracks off Sing The Sorrow.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    This seems like a minor pit-stop for them and in fairness, it's a good record but nothing like what I expected.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    While each member's technically great at what they do, once more, the magic from the band's debut seems too hard to recapture and as a sum of all its parts, DGD comes up short on Instant Gratification.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    While Luciferian Towers evokes a lot of gorgeous imagery to soothe the soul, it lacks a lot of inventiveness and imagination I usually associate with the band.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    It’s less dynamic, less technical, less energetic, less everything.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Before a Million Universes is made up of good songs. Certain ones, you'll want to listen to over and over. But as a full record with two centered roadblocks, it needs you to earn the experience.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Thrashing Through the Passion is easily the band’s softest album to date. Where most Hold Steady albums fill the room with sound, there’s a lot of quiet and negative space on this album. While the band’s other albums wrap you up in an awkward hug of emotions and drag you through to a catharsis, this album is passive.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Comfort/Distraction is a good album that shows off how well Broadway Calls understand how to make pop-punk, but it's hard to shake the feeling that the band are pulling its punches in the name of wider appeal.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    It's classic Fidlar. However, while the musical style's sure to leave fans scratching their heads, peer a bit deeper and you'll see their signature's very much there--it's just, well, diluted and funkier than ever.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Cook nails it in the earliest stages, making it a bit front-loaded.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Tell Me I'm Pretty, while poppy and as mainstream as ever, loses its sense of appeal, character and individuality in coming off too much as a carbon copy of The Black Keys.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    While Return to the Moon is good, it’s not the momentous occasion the next National album is sure to be. It is, however, a refreshing change of pace for its well-defined members.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Zipper Down on its own is a single short burst of energy stretched too thin.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    This album continues to keep the Have Mercy brand stagnant and disappointingly makes surpassing their debut a tall order. "Smoke and Lace" and "Coexist" are probably the only songs that recapture the magic of the first record. Everything else tries too hard to repeat the slow/loud dynamic they pride themselves on.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Good Nature is mellow and laid-back, everything they intended it to be. Hopefully, they add a hard rock or indie edge on the next effort as I think that sound suits them better.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Happiness Is has some great tracks, but ultimately is probably the group's weakest showing overall.